


knock knock

by dahyawn



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-06-11 20:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15323787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahyawn/pseuds/dahyawn
Summary: AU in which Jeongyeon is a film student working at a bakery and Sana is the party girl daughter of a billionaire. Other stuff happens too.





	1. the wrong foot

Yoo Jeongyeon would have called herself a happy person before she met Minatozaki Sana. Her life was busy and exhausting, but full of things and people that she cared for deeply. Her day job, at the small bakery that her grandfather owned, was never overly strenuous, and although her time in film school was lasting a little longer than she would have liked (she had to work full time, so she couldn’t take on an overly ambitious class schedule), she was still satisfied with the work she was doing there and the progress she was making. And then there were her friends, a tight-knit group of girls from different backgrounds, brought into the fold by one another and always a warm, comforting little nest to return to. 

So, there was plenty to be happy about. Or at least content. For that reason, Jeongyeon was more than a little concerned when her grandfather sold his bakery to some Japanese businessman. It was a good thing, she told herself, that her grandfather could retire comfortably with the generous amount he had made. But what about her? She knew that the bakery would have to stay pretty much the same. A businessman would surely know not to mess too much with an established fixture in a somewhat traditional neighborhood. Still, change had always felt uncomfortable to her, and she couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling about the whole thing.

Her nerves peaked on the day the man was supposed to arrive to inspect his new purchase. Jeongyeon did her best to calm herself in the most effective way she knew. She woke up before the sun rose and cleaned the little shop from floor to ceiling, arranging every piece of furniture and even organizing the bakeware and utensils. She started to prepare for the actual baking as Momo made her sleepy entrance through the back door.

“Morning,” she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes and going into the backroom that doubled as an office and employee break room, complete with a desk and lumpy old couch. Momo collapsed onto said couch and was softly snoring in just a few minutes. Jeongyeon smiled to herself as she continued to work with a batch of pastry dough. Just the presence of her coworker, roommate, and best friend, even sound asleep, was enough to calm her nerves. 

When she was finished baking, Jeongyeon looked at the clock on the wall. 7:47. The new owner was scheduled to arrive at 8:00. She stepped into the employee restroom and cleaned herself up before taking a final look at herself in the mirror. She had worn very little makeup, thinking it would look more professional. She adjusted her glasses and started to smooth down her hair before deciding she needed to just redo her ponytail altogether. She pulled it up tight, tied it, and then took a deep breath. 

“Hey, wake up,” she said with rough affection, walking into the break room and smacking Momo’s upturned butt. Momo gave a hard sniff and then reluctantly opened her eyes.

“Is the guy here?” she asked, rubbing drool from the side of her mouth.

“Not yet,” Jeongyeon replied. “But he will be soon, and I want him to see how excellent his new employees are.”

“In that case, I should probably stay back here.”

“Nope! For better or worse, you are part of the package.”

Momo stood up and Jeongyeon walked over to brush lint off of her shirt and straighten her outfit. They both wore plain pants and short sleeved shirts, all black, with new, clean white aprons. Their usual uniforms weren’t quite so formal, usually consisting of jeans and a t-shirt or top. In fact, the only time an outfit had been unacceptable was when Momo showed up to work just a week earlier on a particularly sweltering summer day in a crop top and some ridiculous cutoffs.

“NO!” Jeongyeon barked the moment she saw her. “You cannot wear that!”

“But it’s so hot!” Momo whined. “I think the customers will like it.”

“Go home and change!”

But today their look was neat and uniform. Jeongyeon knew that with the bakery already sold, there was really no need to go so far out of her way to impress anyone, but it was her habit to respond to change with over preparation. 

The sound of the front door opening startled both girls. Jeongyeon’s eyes darted back to the clock: 7:55. Of course he would be early. She walked briskly to the main part of the shop, Momo following quickly behind, but was surprised to see not a man in a smart suit, but a girl. Or rather, a young woman, wearing a well-tailored dress and tasteful but expensive jewelry and looking like she didn’t quite belong in this neighborhood. 

“Oh, hi Miss,” Jeongyeon said politely. “What can I get for you?” 

The store was technically closed for their expected guest, but she didn’t see the harm in serving this girl a quick coffee or pastry. 

“Ah-um, nothing,” she said, a bit flustered. “I’m actually looking for Yoo… Yoo Jeongyeon? I’m Minatozaki Sana.”

“Minatozaki?!” Jeongyeon and Momo said, in perfect unison.

“…Yes?” Sana said. She looked from one to the other, waiting for one of them to come forward. Jeongyeon gave her head a quick shake and then bowed.

“Sorry, I’m Yoo Jeongyeon,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. But I’m not really sure I understand. Why are you here?”

“I’m here on behalf of my father. He sent me to look after his new… investment. But I guess it slipped his mind to tell you that I would be coming… which is typical.”  
Sana closed her eyes and gently rubbed at her temple. 

“When you say ‘look after,’ what do you mean?” Jeongyeon asked, brow furrowed. She baked and served but since her grandfather spent less and less time at the shop, she was also the unofficial manager.

“I’ll be observing and helping the bakery to run more efficiently,” Sana answered curtly. “It will be a collaboration, of course.”

“Oh. Well you know, this bakery’s been around for over forty years. I think we know by now how to run it efficiently.”

“Everything can be improved. And you’re all bakers. I think you could use someone with a mind for business. That was my major in school, after all.”

Momo snorted at that, but disguised her involuntary laugh with a fake coughing fit. Jeongyeon shot her a look of exasperation mixed with amusement. 

“Anyway,” Sana continued, cheeks tinged pink, “I look forward to working with you. I have a couple errands to run but I’ll be back sometime later today. I’ll see you then.”

“See you later,” Jeongyeon replied, rolling her eyes once Sana’s back was turned.

“Bye!” Momo said as the door closed behind Sana, before rounding on Jeongyeon. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Tell you what?” Jeongyeon said.

“That we were bought out by Minatozaki Sana!”

“What do you mean? Do you know her?”

“You don’t know who Minatozaki Sana is?”

“Some girl with a rich dad?”

“Well yeah, but she’s like, famous! And not just in Japan. You seriously haven’t heard of her?”

“Not until today, no.”

Momo pulled out her phone and started a frantic internet search. She handed it to Jeongyeon, who started to swipe through photos of her new boss. Minatozaki Sana entering a club. Minatozaki Sana dancing with other beautiful, young, rich-looking girls. Minatozaki Sana dancing on a table. Minatozaki Sana flashing a photographer (Jeongyeon groaned and moved quickly to the next picture). Minatozaki Sana kissing a guy. Minatozaki Sana kissing a girl. Minatozaki Sana kissing a girl while a different girl kissed Sana’s neck.

“Okay, so she’s a famous party girl,” Jeongyeon said, feigning disinterest.

“Wait, wait, you didn’t see the best one.” Momo flipped to a picture and showed Jeongyeon. Minatozaki Sana in handcuffs, led by a police officer.

“What did she do?”

“’Drunk and disorderly.’ That was six months ago. She hasn’t really been photographed out anywhere since then.”

“Whoa.” Jeongyeon had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that the girl she’d just met was the same as the one in the photos. “So what is she doing here?”

Momo had gone behind the counter and was biting into a pastry. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

“Maybe her dad is making her. Trying to teach her responsibility.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about her when I mentioned that Mr. Minatozaki was the one buying the bakery?”

“Honestly, I spaced out when you started talking about that because it was boring and I didn’t think it would affect me.”

 

The rest of the day went by without much excitement. Once the shop was properly opened, they had a pretty steady flow of customers. They were never exactly busy, and though Jeongyeon had never paid attention to that before, Sana’s visit had made her feel defensive and on edge. She worried that Sana would find it lacking and try and change things.

They closed at 9:00 and Momo left at around 9:20, after giving Jeongyeon a gentle hug that she thought she might need. A little after, the front door opened again.

Sana somehow still looked pristine after an entire day, Jeongyeon noticed. Her makeup was still perfect, hair still in neat waves, and her dress was still perfectly pressed and unstained. Jeongyeon mashed her own messy hair down a bit, but gave up when she looked down and saw the stained and flour covered state of her clothes. 

“Hi, Miss Minatozaki,” She called out. “Would you like a coffee or anything?”

“Coffee would be lovely, thank you.”

Jeongyeon’s ritual was coffee for herself at the end of the day. She poured a cup for herself and one for Sana, and put a bit of milk and a spoonful of brown sugar in both of them. She made her way to the table that Sana was already sitting at, and then sat down.

“Oh, shit,” she said. “I didn’t ask you how you take your coffee. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

Sana suppressed a smile as she took a sip, watching Jeonyeon’s genuine distress at her minor slip in manners.

“Milk and brown sugar?” Sana asked. Jeongyeon nodded. “Weirdly enough, that’s how I take it.”

“You’re joking,” Jeongyeon said.

“I’m really not.”

Jeongyeon smiled a bit at that, then grabbed the folder she’d brought with her. She opened it and then slid it toward Sana.

“So, these are our books for the past year. I figured you would want to look at them and see if there are places we can tighten up.”

Sana nodded and looked down at the pages. She quickly flipped through and then looked up and smiled at Jeongyeon, who returned it and then pointed back at the numbers.

“Do they look okay to you?” Jeongyeon asked. Sana looked down briefly and then gazed around the room.

“Sure! What about redecorating?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t get me wrong, your grandfather has great taste. I just think a lot of the décor is a little old fashioned.”

“Actually, I decorated,” Jeongyeon said, ears turning red. “Redecorated. About a year ago.”

“Oh,” Sana said, flushing as well. “It’s lovely. Like I said, great taste.”

The two of them sat quietly as Sana finished her coffee and Jeongyeon wished internally for death. 

“I’d better get going,” Sana finally said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jeongyeon nodded and then continued closing down the shop where she had left off. 

 

“Are you going to yell at me again?” Momo asked Jeongyeon, when she revealed her outfit for the party.

“No, a party is the perfect occasion to wear a crop top. You look great… and I’m sure I won’t be the only one who thinks so.”

Momo rolled her eyes and continued applying her makeup next to Jeongyeon, who was doing the same. She had watched her friend become grumpier and grumpier as the week went on, irritation growing at Sana’s constant line of questions and suggestions as she tried to do her job. It was actually impressive, Momo thought, that Sana’s attention span was staying so focused on Jeongyeon and the bakery. Momo had taken her for the type who would get bored quickly.

Regardless, she was glad that her friend would have the chance to relax and be around people she actually liked. The party (if a gathering of eight girls can be called a party) was at the house that Chaeyoung, Dahyun, and Tzuyu shared. It was bigger than any of the other girls’ apartments and was always well stocked with snacks. Sometimes one of them would invite another friend or a date, but it was usually just the eight of them, and that was more than enough.

“Ah, finally!” Chaeyoung said when they arrived, jumping up from the couch and running to take the grocery bag Jeongyeon had in tow. They had been charged with bringing soju, with Nayeon and Jihyo bringing wine. Nayeon extended her arms toward Momo, who found her place in them and sat down next to her on the couch. Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow at Momo, who ignored her, before heading to the kitchen to make herself a drink.

“Where’s Mina?” she asked.

“She’s running late because she had to pick up a friend,” Chaeyoung answered. “Someone she knew in school who just moved here.”

Jeongyeon nodded as she poured herself a generous cup and then another for Momo. She heard the door open, a chorus of greetings, and then a familiar voice. Her heart sank as she turned toward the living room.

Minatozaki Sana stood next to Mina, waving and flashing that awful, too-cheerful smile. She saw Jeongyeon and her face froze for a minute, but then she just smiled again and gave a bright wave. Jeongyeon managed a forced grin before turning around and downing her drink in one gulp. She refilled her cup and returned to the living room, plopping down on the floor next to Jihyo.

“You alright?” Jihyo asked, reading the sour look on Jeongyeon’s face.

“You know my new boss that I’ve been complaining about all week?”

“Yeah?”

Jeongyeon motioned toward Sana. “That’s her.”

Jihyo couldn’t suppress her snort of laughter.

“I’m sorry, it’s not funny,” she said, still chuckling. “That’s rough. But maybe it’s a good chance to talk to her. Get to know her. If you’re friends, it’ll be easier to work together.”

“That’s a great idea. Or, I could not do that, and just drink a lot.”

“That’s… also a thing you could do.”

Jeongyeon took a large gulp of her drink in response. Jihyo raised her eyebrows, but said nothing, instead grabbing the remote and attempting to find a good movie to play as background noise. Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu were having an animated conversation with Mina and Sana, who seemed to fit into the group with an ease that made Jeongyeon dig her nails into her palm. Nayeon and Momo, meanwhile were in their own little world, which seemed to be happening more and more at their get togethers. The way they were looking at each other worried Jeongyeon a bit, but she knew that her friends were adults and could make their own decisions.

 

Momo felt it first, little by little. A quickening of her heartbeat when Nayeon smiled at her. The urge to be near her all the time. A stomachache that she couldn’t explain when Nayeon went out on a date. The thought would cross her mind every so often, but she would quickly shoo it away. Until it started happening more and more often. When Momo finally accepted the truth, that she had feelings for her best friend, she was hit with a heady mix of emotions that almost felt like nostalgia: sweet, just a little out of reach, sad, but lovely all the same. She never even considered telling Nayeon or making any move whatsoever. She was perfectly content to sit on the sidelines and be whatever Nayeon needed.

Nayeon felt it later, and it happened all at once. In their third year at university, Momo decided to spend the summer at home in Japan. The decision was abrupt and surprised everyone, Nayeon most of all. The first few weeks were okay for Nayeon. She went out most nights and spent the days with her friends. Anything to avoid being alone. But she felt… something, which she couldn’t quite put her finger on. As the days passed, the desire to be around other people faded. Jeongyeon and Jihyo still dragged her out or, when she was being particularly obstinate, just stayed in with her, but she no longer had the energy to pretend to be the life of the party. 

On a night when she had trouble sleeping, an idea occurred to her that hadn’t before. She should call Momo. They’d been exchanging texts a couple times a day all summer, but hadn’t spoken on the phone. The idea made her feel warm, in a summer that had so far felt so cold. It was nearly three in the morning, but she was pretty sure Momo would pick up. She scrolled to Momo’s name in her contacts and called. The phone rang four times before the girl on the other end picked up.

“Hello?” Momo’s sleepy greeting came through the speaker. “Nayeon? Is everything okay?”

Nayeon’s eyes welled up with tears the moment she heard Momo’s voice, and she felt heat radiating from her chest out to the rest of her body. This reaction took her completely by surprise. She let out a little laugh that was half a sob and hoped that Momo couldn’t tell that she was crying. How embarrassing.

“Everything is fine, Momo,” she answered. “I… um. I just can’t sleep.”

“Why can’t you sleep?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been having trouble lately. Have you been sleeping well?”

“You know I always sleep well,” Momo answered, prompting a giggle from Nayeon. 

“How is it being back home?”

“It’s fine. It’s very boring, and I miss you- all,” Momo quickly corrected. “I miss you all.”

“I miss you too,” Nayeon said, her voice getting sleepy and raspy. “I’m sorry for calling like this and waking you up. I’ll let you go back to sleep now.”

“No, don’t be. It’s nice just to talk to you. Hey, I have an idea. Let’s stay on the phone until you fall asleep. That way even if you can’t, you won’t be alone.”

“I would like that. Thank you, Momo.”

Momo could tell that Nayeon was already starting to drift off. She stayed awake and listened to her friend until she heard the slow, even breathing of a sleeping Nayeon. She sighed softly, smiling and thinking to herself that her summer at home had been a total waste. 

“I love you,” she murmured, and it felt so good to finally say it out loud that she almost hoped Nayeon heard it. Almost. Momo closed her eyes and pulled her phone close to her, but she didn’t hang up. She fell asleep holding it, still on the line with Nayeon.

When Momo returned at the end of the summer, her friends were there at the airport to welcome her home. She laughed at the sign they brought, on which instead of her name, they had crudely drawn a peach.

“That looks like a butt,” she said.

“Oh good, you caught the double meaning,” Jeongyeon answered. “Nayeon said that- hey, what’s with you?”

Jeongyeon had turned to look at Nayeon, who had moved a bit away from the group and was holding her face in her hands to hide the fact that she was once again crying. 

“Heeeeyyyy!” Momo ran over and wrapped her arms around Nayeon, laughing and squeezing her tight. 

“I d-don’t know why, I think I’m j-just tired,” Nayeon said, burying her head in Momo’s shoulder. 

During the next year, they were never apart for more than a couple days, and they started spending more time with just each other. Neither of them talked about it, but they both just knew that sometimes they wanted to hang out alone, without Jihyo or Jeongyeon or any of their newer friends. 

And now here they were. When they started getting together as a group every weekend, usually drinking, sometimes not, a new dynamic emerged between them. They would always end up sitting close together, hands sometimes intertwined, sometimes placed innocently on thighs. Sometimes they would leave for a bit to talk privately, either outside or in one of the bedrooms. Both of them could feel that they were dangerously close to crossing a line that hadn’t been crossed before, and both were a little terrified. 

 

Jeongyeon was pouring her fifth drink when Mina called out to her and motioned her over. She’d had to watch all night as Sana melted smoothly into the group. Her group. The three youngest fawned over her, giggling at any little joke she made. She was apparently a fan of the drama that Nayeon currently had a small role in and claimed she recognized her, and she and Jihyo had a long conversation about an actor that Jihyo liked and Sana was friends with. Even Momo appeared to be won over after she talked with Sana and Mina for a solid half hour in Japanese.

Jeongyeon slowly made her way to the group, all seated on the couch or around it on the floor. She felt with each step that she might be drunker than she should be. 

“Yeah?” she said. Mina looked taken aback at her harsh tone, but recovered and continued anyway.

“Sana was about to tell us about meeting Park Chan-wook. I know you’re a fan of his.”

“I think I already know this story,” Jeongyeon replied. 

The room went silent and everyone turned to look at her.

“Sana said, ‘Daddy, I want to meet Park Chan-wook,’” she continued, in a mocking, whiney voice. “And daddy said ‘of course, darling.’ Isn’t that about how it went?”

No one spoke for a minute, and Jeongyeon’s cheeks turned bright red.

“I… you don’t know me,” Sana finally said. “I don’t know what I did to-“

“I think I do know you,” Jeongyeon continued. She was already in it, might as well keep going. “You’re used to getting whatever you want, because you’re rich, and you’re beautiful. But I feel sorry for you. Because you’ve never earned anything, and you have no idea what the real world is like.”

Sana stared at her for a moment. She blinked once, and then her eyes shone as they filled with tears. She stood up quickly and ran out of the house. Mina got up, glared at Jeongyeon, and jogged after her.

“What the hell?” Momo said, turning toward Jeongyeon. “Are you trying to get fired?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Jihyo asked.

“She was really nice,” Dahyun commented softly.

“She hasn’t had the easiest life either,” Nayeon chimed in.

“Okay, I’ll admit I was out of line,” Jeongyeon said, sinking a bit into her guilt. “But come on, what’s been hard about her life? Was it too chilly one time on her private jet?”

“Don’t you know about her mom?” Momo asked.

“What about her?”

“So I show you her pictures and then you don’t do any research on your own?” Momo said, already searching on her phone again. She found what she was looking for and showed it to Jeongyeon

“So, this is her mom. Tanaka Niko… She was an actress. Probably the biggest in Japan, in her time.” She flipped to a different photo. “And this is the second most famous photo of Sana… at her mom’s funeral.”

Jeongyeon looked at the photo of Sana, about eight years old, wearing a pink coat. She was crying and holding her father’s hand.

“Shit,” Jeongyeon said. She promptly stood up and ran out the door, nearly tackling Mina, who was returning.

“I’m apologizing, I’ll be right back!” she shouted to Mina.

“I don’t know if that’s… such a good idea…” Mina sighed as Jeongyeon shut the door behind her.

She looked down the street, left and right. She saw Sana’s slender frame standing at the corner, waiting for her car, and she ran over to her.

“Hey,” she panted. “I wanted to… say sorry.’

She looked up at Sana as she tried to catch her breath. She was sniffling and her eyes were red and a bit puffy, but she still looked impossibly pretty. 

“I was so mean,” Jeongyeon said. “I don’t really think that, I just-“

“You don’t like me,” Sana interjected.

“No, it’s not that, it’s just-“

“You don’t have to lie, Jeongyeon. We aren’t kids in grade school. It’s okay to dislike someone.”

“Well…” Jeongyeon started. “I don’t think you like me either.”

“Actually, I did,” Sana said, and Jeongyeon could hear the sincerity in her voice. “You work so hard, and you have so much passion for the things you do. Even when it’s just your day job. I… I really admire you.” 

Sana’s car finally arrived, and she looked at Jeongyeon with a final, plaintive stare.

“I wish you would give me a chance.”


	2. push and pull

Jeongyeon woke with a groan at the sound of her alarm. Her head was pounding, and the events of the night before flashed through her mind, triggering a fresh wave of shame. She rolled over a couple times, and even vocalized her frustration with an anguished moan, before rising to get ready for work.

She felt her anxiety flaring at the thought of having to face Sana. Her hands were cold and clammy and her stomach was tight. The thought of food made her feel even sicker, so she left for work on an empty stomach.

Her anxiety turned out to have been for nothing though, because Sana didn’t visit the bakery at all that day.  
Nor the next day, or even the one after that. 

By the fourth day, Jeongyeon’s anxiety had been almost entirely replaced with guilt, thinking that she’d driven Sana away and she must have returned home.  
But then, there she was. When she walked through the front door, Jeongyeon could tell immediately that something was different. Her makeup was simple and her clothes, while still clearly expensive, were plainer and more casual. She gave a nod and a slight smile before walking to the office in the back. Jeongyeon counted slowly to three, gathering herself, before walking back there as well.

Sana had seated herself at the desk and looked focused intently on whatever she was reading. Jeongyeon knocked softly on the door frame, and when Sana still didn’t look up, cleared her throat.

“Yes?” Sana didn’t look up at her.

“Um, hi,” Jeongyeon said, realizing that she had followed on some instinct and didn’t really know what she wanted to say. After a few moments of silence, Sana finally lifted her gaze.

“Do you need something?” 

“I-no, you just… you haven’t been around this week.”

“You’re very observant.”

“I just wondered where you were.”

“I didn’t think I needed to be here every day. You made it pretty clear that you don’t need supervision.”

“Oh… okay.”

Jeongyeon knew she shouldn’t be surprised at Sana’s change in demeanor. She’d more than earned Sana’s iciness, and she probably deserved worse, but it was such a contrast with the warm and cheerful girl she’d seen the week before that it caught her off guard. 

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Jeongyeon said, starting to leave. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

 

Sana continued to pretty much ignore her for the rest of the week, only speaking to her when it was absolutely necessary, and her friendliness toward everyone else made it especially obvious. When she spoke with Momo and Jeongyeon’s other friends, who were quickly becoming Sana’s friends, she was as lively and chatty as ever. Before she’d taken it for granted, even found it annoying. But now, she melted at how genuine Sana seemed. How warm her eyes were, and how every smile seemed to be unique and specifically meant for the person she was conversing with. What a monster she must be, to have hurt this person.

Jeongyeon approached her several times, with mundane questions or boring observations, hoping that she could get a glimmer of that directed at her. But each time it was the same. Sana was never rude, but spoke plainly and with as few words as possible. By Friday, Jeongyeon was a mess. Several silent promises were made to herself that she would earn her way back into Sana’s good graces and make up for what she’d said. She had no idea how, but she could be patient. 

Going to Sana’s office toward the end of the day, she had a simple goal: to learn more about her. As she approached, she heard several soft sniffles, and then a heavy sigh. 

She froze. 

Though she wanted to help, she wasn’t sure she knew how to comfort a crying Sana. Or if Sana would even want her to. She spent a split second that felt like a half hour mulling it over, going over various scenarios that could play out if she walked into the office. Then, she turned around, and walked back into the bakery proper.  
Jeongyeon returned a few minutes later, with a cup of nearly fresh coffee in hand, along with a small plate with a bean paste bun. She’d seen Sana snacking on one a few days earlier. She knocked gently on the door frame of the office with the coffee cup, taking care not to spill any. 

Sana looked up, startled. She started to quickly wipe the tears away from her face, but then gave up, realizing that there wasn’t much use. 

“Hi,” Jeongyeon said sheepishly. “Can I come in?”

“Why not,” Sana sighed, laying her head all the way back against the couch.

Jeongyeon set the coffee cup and plate down in front of her, and then sat down beside her. Sana picked up the cup and sipped, closing her eyes.

“I know I’m not… who you want to talk to right now,” Jeongyeon started. “But I’m here.”

She put her hand on Sana’s arm in a gesture that was meant to be comforting, but only succeeded in being awkward.

“You’re so bad at this,” Sana said with a soft chuckle.

“I know,” Jeongyeon groaned, hiding her face in her hands. 

“It’s okay,” Sana said. “Things are weird between us. That doesn’t help.”

Jeongyeon nodded in agreement.

“So… Why are you upset? Am I allowed to ask?”

Sana shifted a little on the couch and pulled off a portion of the bun, then put it back down.

“It would take a long time to fully explain… and I don’t know if I even could,” she said. “Long story short, you don’t get to be as rich as my dad without breaking some rules. And now they’re coming for him.”

“Who?”

“Everyone. The law, the people he screwed over.”

“So… you’re sad because your dad might be going to jail?”

“I… I don’t know. We’ve never gotten along. Not since my mom died. He gave up on being a good person without her. And he gave up on trying with me. But, he’s my dad, you know? Still, I shouldn’t be so upset.”

“I think it makes sense that you’re upset,” Jeongyeon said. Sana gazed at her quizzically, so she continued. “We haven’t known each other for that long, but… it seems like you’re the opposite of him. Of course someone as good as you would still empathize with him.”

Sana looked down at her hands. “It’s sweet of you to say so. But like you said… we haven’t known each other for very long.”

Sana got up and went over to the desk, starting to gather her things.

“Wait, that’s it?” Jeongyeon asked. “It still doesn’t seem like you’re alright.”

“I’ll be fine!” Sana chirped unconvincingly. “I just need to be alone for a bit.”

She darted out the door, leaving Jeongyeon confused and slightly flustered. 

Soon Jeongyeon was closing the shop and leaving as well. Momo had plans with Nayeon, so she was looking forward to a night alone at her apartment. It was hard to shake Sana from her mind, but after catching up on some dramas and ordering takeout, she was feeling pretty at ease. So at ease, that she fell asleep on the couch, curled up with a blanket wrapped around her. 

 

She woke with a start at a persistent buzzing, just inches away from her head. She put her glasses on and looked at her phone to see who could possibly be calling at 3:30 in the morning and was surprised to see Mina’s name and contact photo.

“Mina?” she answered. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry for waking you up, but I think Sana needs your help.”

“What do you mean?”

“She just called me… She went out tonight, with some friends from out of town. But she said it got weird, and she wants to go home now. She sounded pretty drunk.”

“You want me to go get her? I don’t mind, but why me?”

“You’re the only one of us who has a car, Jeongyeon.”

“Oh, right. Where is she?”

“I think she said they were at Octagon. Drive safe, and could you text me when you get her home?”

“Of course.”

Driving through the night, Jeongyeon’s foot stayed heavy on the accelerator and she made swerving passes and lane changes that earned her honks and shouted curses from other drivers. As she made her way deeper into the city, the sidewalks evolved from deserted and dark, to somewhat filled, to crowded with people and all colors of light. She panicked a bit about finding Sana in the crowd, but then remembered that she had her cell number.

As she came up on Octagon, she slowed and scanned the sidewalk in front of it for Sana. There were way too many people still standing in front of the club and coming out of it for nearly four in the morning. Finally, she saw the flash of a familiar smile. Her back was against the wall, and two men stood in front of her, uncomfortably close, one with his hand on the wall, essentially trapping Sana against it.

Jeongyeon pulled over immediately, one of her tires running up on the side walk. She exited quickly, and was nearly sprinting over to Sana, when-

“HEY!” 

Someone had grabbed her shirt and yanked her back. She turned around to see a burly man, probably a bouncer, glaring at her.

“You can’t park there!” he said, gesturing over to her car.

“I won’t be long, I just need to get my friend!”

The man gave her a once over, and something, perhaps the fact that she was clearly wearing pajamas, caused his aggressive glare to fall away.

“Just this once,” he said. “And you better be out of here quick.”

Jeongyeon nodded, and continued running in the direction of where she’d seen Sana. They were all still there, so she called out to her.

“Sana!”

Sana’s head turned toward her. Mina had apparently not told her that Jeongyeon would be coming, because she looked baffled to see her at first. Her confusion turned quickly to relief, however, and seeing that made Jeongyeon immediately thankful that Mina had called her.

“Ah, my friend is here,” Sana said to the men. “So I have to go home now!”

One of them answered her in slurred Japanese that Jeongyeon couldn’t understand. She didn’t like the look of either of them. They both wore tacky designer clothes and their hair was carefully messy and held in place by a visibly generous amount of product.

“Yes, I called her,” she answered, speaking in Korean for Jeongyeon’s benefit. “I have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Sana, come on. We can have some more fun in our hotel room,” the other man said, in heavily accented Korean. He leaned down and was now practically whispering into her ear.  
“Your friend could come too.”

Sana shook him off and started to push past them, but the one who had been leaning on the wall grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Hard.

Jeongyeon’s face got hot and she acted quickly and on instinct, grabbing the man’s hand and prying it off of Sana’s arm and then giving him a hard shove to the chest. He stumbled back, hitting the wall.

“What the hell?” he spat, stepping up to Jeongyeon.

“She’s coming with me,” Jeongyeon said, not backing away, not breaking eye contact, and slipping her hand into Sana’s. 

“Kiryu-chan,” Sana cooed, stepping towards him and laying a hand gently on his arm. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I’m just really tired. I wouldn’t be much fun.”

The man softened immediately, dropping his aggressive stance, and stepping back and nodding. Jeongyeon couldn’t help but be impressed. Sana was amazing.

 

“Who were those guys?” Jeongyeon asked on the drive back. Sana had insisted that the windows be rolled down, and they were both enjoying the warm breeze that that was flowing through the car. 

“Friends. From back home.”

“They weren’t acting very… friendly.”

“They were drunk.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“It’s not?” Sana raised an eyebrow at her and Jeongyeon flushed, remembering her recent bad drunken behavior.

“You’re right though,” Sana said. “They’re assholes. Assholes who are fun at parties… until they’re not.”

“I thought you weren’t doing this kind of thing anymore,” Jeongyeon said. She knew that she was prying, but something pushed her to ask anyway. “Is it because of your dad?”

“I guess so,” Sana said, sighing and leaning back sleepily. “Your opinion of me must be even lower. If that’s possible.”

“That’s not true,” Jeongyeon immediately countered, with a certainty in her voice that made Sana turn and look at her.

They were both quiet for a bit, feeling the night air and listening to a pop love song playing softly from Jeongyeon’s car radio.

 

Jeongyeon was confused when they got to Sana’s house and her passenger didn’t start to get out of the car, until she looked over and saw that she was fast asleep, mouth slightly open. She smiled and shook her head, then reached over to unbuckle Sana’s seatbelt before getting out and walking over to the passenger’s side door.  
She opened it, and started to wrap her arms around Sana and lift her out of the car. Sana woke a bit, but just put her arms around Jeongyeon’s neck and nestled her head against her chest. Jeongyeon stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do, and a bit panicked at having Sana pressed against her. She guided her out of the car and then helped her to her door. Jeongyeon searched Sana’s handbag and fished out her keys, but even after her door was unlocked and open, sleepy Sana clung to Jeongyeon. So, she had to go in with her. 

The place was hardly opulent, but it was tasteful and modern. Jeongyeon wondered if Sana would add her own touches at some point, or if her stay was too temporary for that. She flinched when Sana grabbed her hand and started to pull her with her.

“I need your help with my zipper,” Sana explained, reading Jeongyeon’s hesitance. Jeongyeon swallowed, nodded, and followed her to the bedroom.

Jeongyeon had to turn around quickly and cover her eyes when she undid the zipper, because Sana let her dress fall unceremoniously to the floor before walking into her closet. Still, Jeongyeon saw that Sana hadn’t been wearing anything underneath it, and her cheeks burned. 

“I thought you would sleep in some kind of fancy nightgown,” Jeongyeon said, when Sana emerged in a large t-shirt and a pair of soft shorts. 

“You’ve thought about what I wear to bed?” Sana said, smirking.

“I-No! I just-I meant-“

“Relax,” Sana said, sitting on her bed. “Jeongyeon, would you do something for me?”

“What do you need?”

“I don’t want you to misunderstand me… But I really don’t feel like being alone tonight. And you’re already wearing pajamas. Do you want to have a sleepover?”

Part of Jeongyeon wanted to stay, more than she would ever admit to herself. Sana’s absence for the past week had made her realize how good it felt to be with her, just to absorb some of the warm light and energy that seemed to radiate off of her without any effort. But the other part of her was terrified to stay, for exactly the same reason. So she mulled it over for a second, biting her lip.

“You don’t have to,” Sana cut in. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I want to,”Jeongyeon finally said. Sana smiled and climbed into bed, and Jeongyeon realized when Sana stayed on one side that she wanted to sleep... together. So she crawled under the covers and faced opposite of Sana, leaving as much space as possible between them.

“Jeongyeon.”

She turned to face Sana and saw that she had closed most of the distance between them.

“I was surprised to see you tonight, at first,” Sana said sleepily. “But then I remembered all the things your friends told me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the reliable one. Always there when you’re needed. Always coming to the rescue.”

“They like to exaggerate…”

“Seems like they’re right, though.” 

Jeongyeon’s eyelids were feeling heavy, so she closed them for a moment. A second later, they flew open when she felt a soft pressure on her forehead. Sana had her lips pressed against it, and sleepy as she was, Jeongyeon felt her heart flutter. Sana pulled away, but only a little, so Jeongyeon could feel her soft breaths on her skin.

“Goodnight,” Jeongyeon said, quickly turning over and scooting even farther toward the edge of the bed.

“Goodnight, Jeongyeon.”

 

Jeongyeon woke up nestled against Sana, with her arm over her waist and her head against her chest. The intimacy of it made her feel hot all of a sudden, and she carefully removed her arm before rolling over and out of bed, taking care not to wake Sana. Jeongyeon thought she somehow looked even more beautiful with slightly chapped lips and morning after makeup. She shook herself out of her moment of gawking and quietly made her way through the house and out the front door, shoes in hand.

She assumed Sana was taking a day to recover from her hangover, because she never showed up to the bakery. The day moved a bit too slow for her, mostly because she had a night with her friends to look forward to. And, if she was being honest with herself, it was boring without Sana. She caught herself hoping that she would be there that night.  
She closed up at a much faster pace than normal, with Momo catching on and matching her speed. It wasn’t their best work, but it got them home sooner. 

Still, everyone else was already there when they arrived. Momo couldn’t escape Nayeon’s gravity and was quickly by her side once again, while Jeongyeon went to the kitchen to get a drink.

“You just left, without saying goodbye.”

Jeongyeon looked up into a pair of playful, glowing brown eyes.

“You were such a mess last night, I figured you needed the sleep.”

Sana gave a soft chuckle, “You missed out. I was going to buy you breakfast.”

“Maybe next time,” Jeongyeon said before walking back into the living room. What was that, she thought, shaking her head, kicking herself over her attempt at flirting. 

Jeongyeon took her traditional spot on the floor in front of the couch. An action movie was playing, no doubt a suggestion from Mina, who was obsessed with them at the moment. But, as per usual, not much attention was being paid to the movie. The nine of them gathered on or around the couches and chairs, with Jihyo and Nayeon, the loudest, leading the conversation and the rest piping up when it suited them. 

Mina’s eyes met Jeongyeon’s and she smiled at her before whispering something to Nayeon.

“Ah? Is that true?” Nayeon said, before turning toward Jeongyeon and continuing at a higher volume. “Jeongyeon, you were Sana’s knight in shining armor last night?”

Jeongyeon started, “No, I-“

“It’s true!” Sana interjected. “She almost got in a fight for me.”

“Really?” “Seriously?” “What happened?” The girls had all their attention on a blushing Jeongyeon.

“I knew he wouldn’t fight a girl on the street,” she said, holding her hands to her pink cheeks. “There were so many people watching.”

“It was still brave,” Sana said, laughing, and flashing a devilish look at Jeongyeon. She was on her second drink and the effect was evident. “And then we slept together.”

“Not like that!” Jeongyeon shouted frantically. Her response was met with laughter from the group, who didn’t need the clarification.

“No, not like that,” Sana said. “But I didn’t want her to have to drive home at four in the morning.”

She hadn’t broken eye contact with Jeongyeon throughout the whole exchange. Jeongyeon noticed. But she broke it herself, to go and get another drink.

 

Momo couldn’t help but notice the way Nayeon had looked at her when she arrived. Nayeon had been there for a while, had a couple drinks, and it was evident in the way she ran her gaze, up and down, slowly, over Momo, before meeting her eyes and motioning her over. 

“That top looks amazing on you,” she said when Momo sat down, running her hand along Momo’s thigh. Momo just smiled, and leaned her head on Nayeon’s shoulder, then squeezed her hand. 

The movie had somehow managed to capture everyone’s rapt attention, broken only occasionally by a comment or question and a quick, subsequent shushing of whoever had spoken. They were debating what to watch next when Momo got up and went to the backyard, sitting alone on a bench on the patio. 

“Hi,” Nayeon said, a few minutes later, after following her out.

“Hi,” Momo responded, patting the spot next to her for Nayeon to sit.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course” Momo answered. “I just… needed a minute. It gets crowded in there.”

Nayeon nodded, putting an arm around Momo and pulling her closer. 

“I was actually hoping that you would follow me out here,” Momo admitted, gathering her courage. She was terrified, but there was no way she was reading this wrong. Right? The way Nayeon looked at her, talked to her. She probably wouldn’t have been brave enough sober, but she wasn’t, and the night was cool, and the moon looked beautiful, and- “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Nayeon pulled back a bit and looked at her. But she didn’t look surprised, not exactly. She brought her hand up to Momo’s cheek, and stroked it gently with her thumb. She looked up into Momo’s eyes, and Momo could read relief in them. Then she looked down at her lips. And then Nayeon kissed her. Firmly, gently, purposefully. Momo wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close, kissing her back, opening her mouth slightly to allow Nayeon’s plump bottom lip between hers.  
Nayeon pulled away, then kissed Momo’s cheek, then the tip of her nose. 

“Momo,” she murmured, voice low and husky. “Can I go home with you?”

Jeongyeon figured the least she could do was help clean up, since the three youngest hosted every week. So there she was, doing dishes at around two in the morning, humming softly to herself, her buzz all but worn off. She’d found recently that doing dishes could be somewhat cathartic. It was mindless, so she could do it while thinking about other things, or thinking about nothing. 

She’d watched Nayeon and Momo leave together, Momo giving her a dopey smile on the way out. The rest were all asleep, in their beds or on the couch or the floor. Or so she thought.

A pair of hands grabbed a few dishes from the dirty pile, and started to help.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jeongyeon said, looking up at Sana.

“I don’t mind,” Sana answered, nudging Jeongyeon with her hip and continuing to scrub. Jeongyeon nudged her back, smiling, and then they worked in silence for a few moments. 

“I don’t remember ever thanking you, for last night,” Sana said. “So, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Jeongyeon said, stopping her work for a moment. “Actually, I think I still have a long way to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“To make up for how I acted.”

Sana slid her hand over Jeongyeon’s, both of them wet and soapy, and then gazed up at her. 

“I think… you’ve more than made up for it. Let’s just start fresh.”

Her hand still on Jeongyeon’s, Sana shifted toward her, and they stood hip to hip, just looking at each other, Sana’s face moving closer and closer to Jeongyeon’s. Jeongyeon’s breath caught in her throat, and suddenly she was incapable of movement. Had she been able to move, she wasn’t sure if she would have moved away from Sana, or closed the distance and kissed her.

But suddenly, Sana flinched and pulled away from her quickly. Jeongyeon wasn’t sure why, until she heard a soft shuffling coming from the other room. 

Dahyun entered, eyes nearly closed, and didn’t acknowledge either of them. She opened the refrigerator door, grabbed an apple, and took a massive bite, and then put it back. She washed that down with a swig of milk straight from the carton, before shutting the door and leaving.

Sana and Jeongyeon laughed softly into their hands, before turning back to each other.

“I should really get home,” Jeongyeon said. She heard the pang of regret in her own voice. 

“Goodnight,” Sana said. “I’ll see you soon.”

She still had Jeongyeon’s hand in hers, and she squeezed it, before placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took so long... Thank you all for reading, commenting and being kind!


	3. mirror

It definitely wasn’t love at first sight. 

Sana was too nervous to register anything about the girls in the bakery the first time she met them. Her stomach had sunk lower and lower as she rode through the city, each district getting progressively older and quieter. And the bakery itself was so quaint. It was a jarring contrast to the places that she was used to spending her time, all sleek and modern. She knew she could never feel at home here. 

Her first visit to the bakery blurred by, and afterward she fled with her driver to the chicest parts of town, buying herself little expensive things in an attempt to make herself feel better. She had essentially been banished here by her father, and part of her wanted to plead with him to just let her come back. But she knew she couldn’t stand to see the look on his face if she returned, tail between her legs. That’s what he expected, maybe even wanted. So she promised herself that she would prove him wrong and stay. At least for a while.

She returned to the bakery after night had fallen. Through the windows she saw one of the girls she had met earlier stacking chairs and bussing tables, diligently working to close for the night. There was something about her lone figure, lit by the warm light inside, bracketed by the darkness of the night… it was like a living composed photograph, and it gave Sana a peculiar feeling. She took a deep breath, and went inside. 

“Hi, Ms. Minatozaki.”

Jeongyeon’s stammers and quick, sometimes awkward movements as she greeted her and got her coffee revealed that she was just as nervous as Sana, maybe even more. And Sana realized that she had every reason to be, with a new person, whose intentions she had no way of knowing, coming into the picture. Her awkwardness somehow made Sana feel more at ease, and the warm drink didn’t hurt either. For the first time she was able to look around and appreciate the place for what it was. Not exactly her taste, but it had a lot of potential.

 

Heading to the bakery the next day, she was almost excited. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to be useful, and she followed Jeongyeon around like a puppy. She could feel Jeongyeon’s irritation, but she couldn’t stop herself. She also couldn’t stop herself from being a little jealous at the way Jeongyeon was with Momo. She was open, a little sarcastic, teasing, and always laughing in this loud, goofy way that Sana loved the moment she heard it. But with her she was reserved, polite, and a bit cold. She hated it, and wondered how she could break through. The more she pushed, the more Jeongyeon pulled away. It felt like being a kid again, trying desperately to get someone to like you. 

She wondered to herself if Jeongyeon knew who she was. Sana was used to people knowing far too much about her personal life and had stopped worrying about people judging her a long time ago. This time was different, though. Was it too much to hope for a fresh start without all of her baggage?

Of course it was. 

“I feel sorry for you. Because you’ve never earned anything, and you have no idea what the real world is like.”

Far meaner, far nastier, and far more personal insults had been hurled at Sana before. She’d been called every dirty word in the book, and some of those words had been on the cover of magazines with her face plastered underneath. But somehow, coming from this bakery girl she’d just met… it broke her. It was a rejection she hadn’t been prepared for. It was also, she thought, true. What had she ever done?

She’d run off crying, only to get chased down. 

“I wanted to say… Sorry.”

She didn’t want to hear that.

“I don’t really think that.”

Yes, you do.

“You don’t like me.”

“Well… I don’t think you like me either.”

Sana could have agreed, protected herself. She could also have just left, her car was there. But instead, she told the truth. More of the truth than she probably should have, but something inside of her pushed her to do it. The person that she wanted to be was honest, and a little brave.

 

The next few days were spent cooped up in her apartment. She was hiding, nursing hurt feelings, but also trying to figure out why it had hurt so much in the first place. It was ridiculous that it should matter so much to her. She’d just met this girl. Why should she care if she didn’t like her?

On the third day, Mina came to see her. 

“Sana, I know that Jeongyeon was-”

“An asshole?”

Mina sighed. “I was going to say way out of line and abrasive, but that works too. She’s really not like that though. I don’t know what got into her. She’s a great person. And an even better friend.”

“Well, she clearly doesn’t want to be friends with me.”

“I think you might be wrong... Momo says she seems really upset.”

Sana hated that she liked hearing that. Mina noticed her go quiet, and perhaps saw that she was suppressing a smile, raising an eyebrow at her.

“You said you wanted to give running this bakery a real shot,” she said. “Jeongyeon hates change, but if you show her you’re not a threat… I think you two could work well together. Balance each other.”

 

Sana didn’t get embarrassed very easily. At least, not anymore. Years of having her worst moments broadcast to the public had made her numb to all of that. And yet, when she walked into the bakery and saw Jeongyeon again, she felt herself flush and become a little nauseous at the memory of their last encounter. It still hurt, she realized, that someone who had impressed her from the start felt exactly the opposite toward her. 

“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?” “I think we should get some new curtains. Would you help me pick some out?” “I’m trying out some new items for the menu. Do you want to taste test them?”

No, no, no. She didn’t want it like this, didn’t want Jeongyeon trying so hard to be nice to her just because she felt sorry for her. Sana was as cold to her as she could manage. Still, Jeongyeon refused to quit, always peering at her through spectacles with wide, earnest eyes; she almost bought it. And it was kind of cute. 

And then, a phone call. 

Her father spoke rapidly and harshly, as if she was the one that had done something wrong. It wasn’t the first time Sana had gotten a call like this, but if her father’s voice was any indication, it was much more serious. She wished that she could just wash her hands of it, say to herself, he’s a bad person, and be finished with him. But he was her father, and even after years of distance and indifference from him, she could still see him clear as day next to her mother’s bed, holding her hand, chin trembling a bit as he fought back tears. He probably never had such sentimental thoughts about her. 

A soft knock on her door brought her back to the present. Jeongyeon held a bean paste bun and a cup of coffee. And Sana could feel everything that had happened between them melting away. It all felt trivial, compared to what was happening to her father. She didn’t have the energy to pretend to be okay, so she didn’t. She spilled everything she was feeling and, despite the awkwardness between them, let herself believe the understanding she saw in Jeongyeon’s eyes. 

But it wasn’t enough. So she ran out and called a couple friends who she knew were in town. 

Part of the arrangement with the bakery and her stay in Seoul was that she behave. Well, that wasn’t happening tonight. Why should she? It was ironic, really, that she was the one being punished when her screw-ups were kid stuff next to what her father was involved in. Maybe she would throw that in his face, the next time they talked. Probably not, though.

She needed this. Needed the numb feeling, the bitter taste, the lightness. She needed the velocity, and the thumping noise as she danced and laughed at jokes she never would have thought were funny sober. She didn’t need his hands on her hips, and she didn’t need them moving lower and farther back. She grasped his wrist firmly and removed them, but he pulled her in and kissed her. She tripped a little, stepping back quickly, shaking her head at him.

“It’s not that kind of night,” she said, loud over the music but still not sure if he heard.

“What, already got a new boyfriend here?” he said, smirking at her. She knew it wouldn’t stop him if she did. 

“No, I’m just… It’s not what I want to do tonight.”

It didn’t help that they had… history. She knew there was no reasoning with him, that he wouldn’t understand that it would never, ever, ever, happen again. So she just kept saying no, hoping that at least that would get through his thick skull. But of course it didn’t, especially not after both her companions went back for another round of shots. Sana hated the way they looked at each other then, hated even more the way they leered at her, and seemed to circle her on the dance floor. She excused herself to go to the bathroom. 

“Shit,” she said when she whipped out her phone and saw that it was past three in the morning, but she called anyway.

“Sana? Are you okay?” Mina’s voice shifted rapidly from sleepy to concerned.

“Mina! Thank you so much for picking up. I’m fine right now, I just…”

“What do you mean ‘right now’? Where are you?”

“I went out with some friends… from back home. And I don’t know. I’m just feeling uncomfortable. Can you, maybe, come pick me up?” 

Sana prayed that Mina was still as good at reading between the lines as she’d always been.

“I… I don’t really ha- Actually yes. Of course. Which club?”

Sana felt a wave of relief, and her heartbeat started to return to a more normal pace. 

“Octagon.”

“Got it. Wait a few minutes, then be outside.” 

 

Masses of people on the street didn’t prevent Sana from finding herself backed against a wall outside a little bit later. No one even looked their way. 

Then, someone did. A little face popped up from the crowd, looking straight at her, and it took Sana a minute to recognize her, because it was the last person she expected. She felt a jolt in her stomach when she realized it was Jeongyeon, and it couldn’t be an accident that she was there. And then for the second time she felt herself come back from the brink of a near panic attack. She could breathe again. 

Making her excuses and starting to walk toward Jeongyeon, she felt a large, sweaty hand wrap around her arm and pull her back, hard enough that she nearly lost her balance. Then she was shocked for the second time of the night when Jeongyeon shoved- really shoved, full force- her friend away from her, then pulled her close and intertwined their fingers.  
For a brief moment, she thought there might really be a fight. And with her determined glare and sure stance, Sana entertained the idea that Jeongyeon could take him. But then she really looked at the scene: a gangly girl, nearly swallowed up by her oversized t-shirt and baggy pajama pants, and a man over six feet tall, the rich, trust fund type who has the time to spend hours every day working out. She quickly took the situation into her own hands, diffusing it with a few soft words. 

Her anxiety at the club and outside of it had sobered her a bit, but the steady rhythm of the car on the ride back was making her feel sleepy, and a little buzzed again. She wondered how much of the night she would remember, and which parts would be fuzzy blank spaces. Gazing at the girl driving, she decided to try and make one memory stick: Jeongyeon, singing along softly to the song on the radio, hair down and blowing gently with the breeze coming in through the window. 

When she woke up she had arms wrapped around her. She nestled herself further into them, enjoying the feeling of warmth and something to hold onto. The owner of the arms guided her to what she realized was her home. 

The last thing Sana wanted was to be alone. And what was the worst that could happen, if she asked? Well, she could say no. And that would hurt. But she’d already been embarrassed in front of Jeongyeon, rejected by Jeongyeon, in a way. She’d survived that time. And what if she said yes?

So she asked. And Jeongyeon said yes.

It felt so good to have someone next to her who made her feel safe, that Sana couldn’t help but show it, kissing her on the forehead. She knew it would fluster Jeongyeon, but she didn’t care. In fact, she liked it. 

She drifted to sleep listening to the soft, steady breaths next to her. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sending her?”

“I thought it would be more fun if it was a surprise.”

Mina was lounging on her bed, playing a game on her phone while Sana finished getting dressed.

“I can think of about five different ways that could have gone wrong.”

“It didn’t, though, did it? I knew it wouldn’t.”  
Sana came out and looked at herself in the mirror, wearing a casual top and jeans that she’d spent too long agonizing over.

“What do you think?” she asked Mina, changing between poses in front of the mirror.

“I think you have a big, fat crush on Jeongyeon,” Mina didn’t look up from her phone.

Something about Mina saying it out loud made it different. Made it feel more real. And dumber.

“I… It’s stupid, right? I mean, technically she works for me.”

“Technically, you should have fired her after she called you a spoiled brat at a party,” Mina smirked at her, raising an eyebrow. “But you didn’t.”

 

Sana told herself that she was going to play it cool, feel things out. But she couldn’t stop herself from following when she saw Jeongyeon heading alone to the kitchen.

She couldn’t figure out if she was imagining it or not. The way Jeongyeon tried to fight a smile when she talked to her, but couldn't. The way her eyebrow cocked a bit when Sana mentioned breakfast. The littlest bit of pink on the tips of her ears. But maybe it was just her own wishful thinking, convincing her that her stupid crush might actually be mutual. 

Sana had let herself obsess over her conflict with her employee to the point that she’d forgotten to pay attention to much else. But at the party that night, she realized finally how comfortable she was starting to feel, maybe for the first time since she was a kid. She’d plunged head first into an existing group of friends but, looking around her, she felt a beat of affection for every face there. 

It was so different for her. There was no rivalry, no jealousy, no ulterior motives. Everyone just… liked each other. And they liked her, and they made sure she knew it. Sana took another sip of her drink and smiled to herself. 

“I don’t know. I don’t really do anything,” Momo was answering Dahyun’s question about her muscle definition. “I just eat and dance.”

“Ugh, shut up,” Nayeon said. “That’s so annoying! I’ve been working out for months and I barely see any difference.”

“But Nayeon, you don’t need to,” Momo said. “You’re perfect.”  
“Momo, please stop saying things like that to her,” Jihyo pleaded. “She’s enough of a nightmare already.”

Nayeon stuck her tongue out at Jihyo, before wrapping Momo up and squeezing her tight. Then she turned to Sana.

“Mina said you went to Octagon last night. What did you think?”

“The venue was really fun!” Sana answered. “The company could have been better.”

“What do you mean? Who did you go with?”

“Some guys I know from back home. They just got a little too drunk and handsy. You know how it is.”

Nayeon nodded in solidarity, rolling her eyes. Mina leaned toward Nayeon, and Sana caught the conspiratorial look in her eye as she told her in a low voice:

“Jeongyeon had to come to her rescue.”

Jeongyeon’s ears were definitely flushed then, and it spread to her cheeks, as Nayeon loudly announced what she’d learned and the rest of the girls all turned their attention to her. Sana played into it, adding her own details and locking eyes with her. She didn’t look away, instead almost challenging her. That, couple with the way the corners of her mouth were turning up slightly, had Sana’s face feeling a little warm as well. 

 

Making a fool of herself was the last thing Sana wanted to do, so she took it easy on drinks. And if she was being honest with herself, she felt happy enough at the moment that even drinking couldn’t improve it much. That’s how she found herself one of the last two still awake. She went to go join the other one, who was washing dishes. Of course.

And then she started to feel that feeling. The two in the morning feeling, where the last two people at the party feel like the last two people in the whole world. She let it spread through her and let her body move closer to Jeongyeon’s. She looked up at her, trying to read her, trying to find the thing that she was feeling somewhere in the girl in front of her, in her eyes, or on her lips. 

She was startled by a noise coming from the living room, so she pulled away. And her heart sank as Dahyun came in, because she knew that was it. The moment was over. But she had seen it, she thought. The same want.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to go ahead, post, start a new chapter. I'm thinking about changing to M because I keep struggling with what's acceptable in T and I don't want to scandalize any teens. So lemme know if you have an opinion on that, still deciding.


	4. baggage

“Where do you have to be so early on a Sunday morning?”

When Nayeon turned around, startled, she saw Jeongyeon sipping coffee at the kitchen table, smug with a half smile and cocked eyebrow. She had almost made it out the door unnoticed.

 

The first thing she’d seen when she woke up that morning was Momo’s back, completely bare. The second thing she saw was the scratches on Momo’s back and the blotchy red marks on her neck. Her stomach flipped and she brought her hands up to cover her eyes as the memories of how those marks got there came back to her piece by piece. 

The walk to Momo’s apartment had sobered them up a bit, but Nayeon had nabbed a bottle of sparkling pink wine and another of sweet red, a pinot noir or something. They took turns sipping from each bottle, talking and laughing, TV on in the background but pretty much ignored. Neither of them talked about what had happened earlier. 

When about half of each bottle was gone, Nayeon felt herself loosening up, her nerves ebbing away. Her mouth hurt a little from smiling but she couldn’t help it. She felt warm and light and a bit like she was floating, and she couldn’t stop staring at Momo, and Momo’s eyes were so big and so sweet, and her hair looked a little messy, but Nayeon _liked_ her hair messy, and Momo was so funny and she was smiling and she was talking about her dance partner accidentally smacking her into the wall, but of course Momo wouldn’t fuss about it because that’s just not who she is-

“- and then I just went like, BOOM,” Momo said, collapsing against the back of the couch and giggling a little. “He looked like he was about to cry, but it didn’t hurt that much when it happened. Now it’s pretty sore, though.”

“Momo, that could have been really serious! I’ll come talk to him and make sure he knows what’ll happen if he ever does it again.”

“No way! He feels bad enough. And I’m fine.”

“Can I see it?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Momo started to pull up the back of her shirt, but Nayeon took over. She pulled it midway up her back and then she saw it, a massive, purple bruise, a few inches below her bra. It was like a thick horizontal stripe that was darker and more intense in the center, by her spine, and it was shaped like a ballet barre. Nayeon almost felt like crying too. 

She reached out, running the tips of her fingers softly along the length of it and feeling Momo’s slight shiver at her touch. Then she leaned in and pressed her lips against it.

“Kissing it better?” Momo asked innocently, looking behind her. 

“Mm-hm,” Nayeon mumbled into Momo’s skin. She finally pulled away, but she immediately missed the warmth and softness, so she pressed another kiss to her back, a little higher. Momo quietly gasped, her breath catching when Nayeon kissed her for the third time, higher again. And then a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, her hand gliding up and lifting the shirt, making her way up Momo’s back.

Nayeon pulled away again. Momo’s eyes were closed and she still wasn’t breathing. 

“Momo.” 

Nayeon wondered what it was Momo saw that made her look at her like that. It was full of something like awe, and it was honest and raw and earnest and sweet. She didn’t deserve it, and it scared her. But at that moment it was also exactly what she wanted, so she couldn’t help rushing forward, meeting her lips again with more urgency than before. 

Nayeon considered herself to be pretty experienced in bed. Her “experience” was actually a common theme when Jeongyeon and Jihyo’s teasing veered into raunchier territory. She was also pretty confident that she was good at it. But with Momo, all of that flew out the window. Even a little drunk she felt incredibly nervous, kissing tentatively, fingers shaking a bit as they found Momo’s waist and slipped under the hem of Momo’s shirt. 

With Momo’s lips leaving hers to explore her jawline, Nayeon felt both drunker and soberer at the same time. She could feel herself starting to let go and melt into the moment. Needing to get closer, she pushed Momo back and straddled her, gently but firmly guiding her back into a kiss with a finger beneath her chin. Her hands found the hem of Momo’s shirt again and started to lift it up, but an intrusive thought interrupted her.

“Is this really, really stupid?” she asked, cupping Momo’s face in her hands and forcing her to meet her gaze. Momo took a moment, blinking away her dazed look before she answered.

“Maybe,” she said with a little chuckle, lightly massaging Nayeon’s hips.

“Is it going to change everything?”

Momo thought for a moment.

“It doesn’t have to.” 

Nayeon tried to read Momo’s expression, but found that her friend seemed entirely unaffected. But instead of asking, she resolved to be as casual as Momo seemed to be. 

“Fuck it,” she said, kissing Momo again before ducking down to graze her teeth along Momo’s collarbone, then running her tongue lightly over it. The soft moan it drew from Momo made her involuntarily grind down onto Momo’s lap, and she really wished they were both wearing less clothing. Momo’s shirt was the first to go, and Nayeon took a moment to appreciate how good she looked, even sitting down, before her lips and tongue made up for lost time on newly exposed skin. 

Fingers started to play with the button on her shorts, and Nayeon pulled away again, but only a bit. Her lips were still on Momo’s when she whispered,

“Should we go to your room? Jeongyeon could--”

Momo kissed her once more before standing up, carrying Nayeon with her to her. They paused once for a break, Momo backing her up against a wall, but soon made it to her room.

Nayeon quickly stripped off her shirt, then shorts, and felt herself flush at the way Momo openly stared at her. She grabbed the waistline of Momo’s jeans and tugged her closer, looking her in the eye as she undid the button and pulled down the zipper.

“Off,” she said, and Momo quickly followed instructions as Nayeon laid down on her bed. 

Part of her had worried that sex would be different with Momo. That maybe what she had thought was attraction was just strong, friendly affection, and that it might end up being awkward or uncomfortable in bed. Well, it _was_ different with Momo. Completely different. Nayeon was hypersensitive, to the point that every touch or kiss reverberated through her, working her up, adding to the heat building inside of her. She didn’t know why she felt like this, swooning like it was her first time. 

This wasn’t how Nayeon had expected it to go. She’d imagined this, she would have to admit, many times. When she thought about it, late at night, it was always more along the lines of her pinning Momo against a wall, her on top of Momo, her behind Momo, frantically making her come undone. Not _this_. Not her nearly crying out when Momo slipped a couple fingers inside of her. Not her involuntarily mumbling her best friend’s name repeatedly, like a prayer, as Momo’s tongue worked at her nipple. And definitely not what she knew was about to happen.

Because Nayeon really couldn’t help it. She tried to hold out, but Momo felt so good inside of her and pressed against her, and the image of her on top, grinding down while she gently fucked her kept flashing through her mind, and-- she really, really couldn’t help it. She tugged on Momo’s hair, bringing her up into a messy kiss, trying to hide her moan as she came on her fingers, scratching into Momo’s back with her nails. And then, because finishing after about five minutes wasn’t embarrassing enough, she felt her eyes well up, tears spilling out, dropping down her cheeks and onto Momo’s pillow.

“Did you just--?” Momo had pulled back just a bit to look at Nayeon, who hadn’t been quick enough wiping off her cheeks before Momo noticed. “Nayeon, are you okay?”

Nayeon coughed to clear her throat, “I’m fine. It’s just-- uh, it’s been a while. I guess.”

“But… you’re crying.”

“Shut up,” Nayeon growled, pulling Momo back toward her. She felt Momo’s soft giggle, but it quickly turned into a gasp when Nayeon rolled them both over so that she was on top.

“Just, shut up,” she said, leaning down quickly to kiss her.

 

“I have things to do this morning, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Oh yeah? What things?” 

Nayeon rolled her eyes, turning around to face her since clearly, Jeongyeon wasn’t going to make this easy.

“I have to work.”

“I thought you and Momo usually hang out on Sundays.”

“Well, this Sunday I have to work. I’m a performer. My hours are unpredictable.”

“Don’t do this, Nayeon.” The teasing tone was all but gone from Jeongyeon’s voice. Nayeon had a pretty good idea what she meant, but she asked anyway.

“Don’t do what?”

“I know you’re used to dating… a certain type of person. And you had to act all aloof to keep them interested. But this is Momo. You don’t have to play games with her.”

Nayeon sighed, sitting down across from Jeongyeon

“It’s not that simple,” she said. 

“It really is. Just stay, have breakfast with us. You always do when you spend the night here. What’s different about this time? Just because you hooked up doesn’t mean you have to act all weird.”

“You don’t understand. Last night--”

“Please keep this PG, it’s morning.”

“Whatever. Last night, I was, like, really nervous. Like way more than I usually am. But Momo was so relaxed and calm, like it wasn’t a big deal to her at all. Like she does this all the time.”

Jeongyeon scoffed into her coffee, “Well, I’m her roommate so I can tell you she definitely doesn’t do this all the time. She hasn’t dated in forever.”

“Still, what if it didn’t mean anything to her? What if she was just horny and I was around?” 

“So it does mean something to you?”

“I didn’t say that,” Nayeon corrected her quickly, earning a heavy eye roll from the girl across from her.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about. Why can’t you just ask her how she feels?”

“Because if I ask her, then she gets to ask me the same question. And I’m not sure about the answer yet.”

“I don’t even think _you_ believe what you’re saying right now,” Jeongyeon said, gazing at her thoughtfully before taking another sip.

“Why am I even listening to you,” Nayeon asked, moving in a little closer. “When you’re the worst about standing in the way of your own love life?”

Jeongyeon cocked her head, genuinely confused.

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning maybe I would take your advice if you quit playing dumb and let your boss bend you over her desk.”

Coffee sprayed all over the table as Jeongyeon coughed and sputtered, trying to swallow so she could take a breath. Nayeon laughed as she moved behind her to try to help, giving a few firm pats to her back.

“That’s-- No! No way! She doesn’t-- I don’t--” Jeongyeon sputtered between coughs. “You’ve got it totally wrong!”

“I don’t even think _you_ believe what you’re saying right now,” Nayeon mocked in a nasal tone, tugging on one of Jeongyeon’s reddened ears.

A slight rustling sound from Momo’s room interrupted Jeongyeon’s response. They both looked up, and then back at each other.

“Stay.”

“I…” Nayeon frowned, looking from Momo’s room to the front door, making up her mind.

“I can’t do this right now. I have to go, I’m sorry, I know, I’m stupid, just tell Momo I had to work,” she said, grabbing her things and jogging toward the door.

“You are _such_ an idiot!” Jeongyeon whispered exasperatedly, leaning over the table and glaring at Nayeon as she retreated. “Grow up!”

“I know!”

“I’m, like, actually really mad at you right now!”

“I’m the worst!”

“Im Nayeon! Get back here!”

 

The front door shut just as a sleepy Momo walked out, rubbing at her eyes.

“Good morning.” She stopped for a moment behind Jeongyeon to pinch her cheeks. 

“Stop it,” Jeongyeon grumbled, slapping her hands away as Momo chuckled. “Nayeon said to tell you she had to work.”

Jeongyeon looked at Momo to try and gauge her reaction. Momo had been reaching up into the cupboard for a plate, but she paused for a moment.

“Oh,” she said, then grabbed the plate and went to the fridge to look for breakfast. Jeongyeon felt a little ache in her chest when she heard the disappointment in Momo’s voice, but she also didn’t sound surprised.

“I didn’t think she worked on Sundays,” Jeongyeon prodded.

Momo sighed, “She doesn’t. She was probably just afraid to have to talk to me after last night.”

“Momo…” Jeongyeon didn’t feel like lying to her best friend. “You know this isn’t your fault, right? She’s just got issues with-- intimacy or something. It’s not you.”

“I guess,” Momo said, putting her now full plate on the table and sitting down across from Jeongyeon.

“She’s just scared. Because she really likes you. I can tell.”

“I want to think so too,” Momo said, biting into a piece of cold chicken. “I know that if she liked me, she would probably act like this. But if she didn’t like me-- well, she would act pretty much the same way.”

“She’s really stupid like that,” Jeongyeon said. “So what are you gonna do?”

Momo sighed, “I’m gonna give her space, I guess. If I try and push it, it might freak her out.”

While normally Jeongyeon would have disagreed and told her to just be honest, she was afraid Momo might be right, especially after Nayeon’s squirreliness this morning.

“Everything was fine before this,” Momo groaned, smacking her forehead softly against the table. “Sex ruins everything.”

“Yeah, no one should have sex with Nayeon,” Jeongyeon solemnly agreed.

 

Momo hadn’t texted Nayeon in two days. Nayeon was fine with that. It definitely didn’t bother her that Momo didn’t text her good morning. I mean, she always had before, but it wasn’t like it was a big deal. It also didn’t bother her that the last text she got from Momo was right before the party. And her heart definitely didn’t skip a beat when her phone vibrated, only to fall to the pit of her stomach when she saw that it was another text from someone who wasn’t Momo.

**Unknown Number:** _Hi Nayeon! This is Sana. Do you wanna have lunch today?_

She felt a sudden red-hot pang of irritation at stupid Sana texting her for lunch when they were _barely_ acquaintances and she had been waiting for a text from Momo for-- Wait, no. She wasn’t waiting for anything. And Sana hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, lunch with Sana might be the perfect thing to get her mind off of-- everything.

Nayeon hadn’t warmed up to Sana quite as much as her friends had. Their conversations were plenty friendly when they were together with the group, but they hadn’t spent any time together one on one. She could tell that Sana knew she hadn’t quite won her over, and it was eating at her, but Nayeon just didn’t trust her. She couldn’t be sure that the effervescence that Sana presented seemingly at all times was genuine.

But Nayeon saw an opportunity. She knew the perfect place for them to go for lunch and she was sure Sana wouldn’t say no.

**Nayeon:** _Sure. How about we get Jeongyeon to make us something at the bakery?_

**Sana:** _That would be perfect! See you there_

 

Nayeon locked eyes with Momo the moment she walked in. Momo quickly made her way around the counter and toward Nayeon, impatiently grabbing her arm to pull her in for a tight hug. She stepped slightly back a moment later, running a hand through Nayeon’s hair and leaning in to kiss her, murmuring a “Hi, Nayeon,” against her lips.

That’s what Nayeon had let herself hope would happen, anyway. They did lock eyes right when she opened the door, but Momo just flinched at the sight of her before giving her a small wave and a tight smile. Nayeon returned the gesture before making her way over to Sana. Knowing it was all her fault didn’t stop the heaviness that settled in her chest.

“What are you going to get?” Sana asked brightly as Nayeon took her seat.

“Kimchi fried rice,” Nayeon answered immediately.

Sana cocked her head at her, “Do we have that here?”

“Nope. But Jeongyeon makes it for me all the time. She loves doing it. Oh good, there you are.”

Jeongyeon approached their table, brushing crumbs off her hands, and with a mouth full of bread lazily asked, “What d’you two want?”

“The customer service here could use some work,” Nayeon said. “I want kimchi fried rice.”

“Nayeon, for the last time, please just order something from the menu!”

“But I want kimchi fried rice.”

“We don’t serve that. I don’t even have the ingredients!”

“I saw you make kimchi stew here earlier this week and I know you have rice. You make other dishes for yourself here all the time. You just don’t want to.”

“You’re right, I don’t want to! I would have to go to the back kitchen, and… Sana, please tell her to order something else.”

Sana shared a glance with Nayeon before looking back up at Jeongyeon, “Actually, kimchi fried rice sounds really good.”

“See, your boss said so. Are you going to defy a direct order?”

“This isn’t the _army_ , she doesn’t give me orders.”

“Jeongyeon, please,” Nayeon put her hands on her cheeks and blinked up at her, pouting.

“Pretty please?” Sana said, following Nayeon’s example.

“Ugh, if it’ll make you stop doing that, then fine,” Jeongyeon grumbled, starting to walk toward the back. “But you two are in charge of keeping an eye on Momo. Make sure she doesn’t eat more than her paycheck’s worth of cookies.”

Nayeon turned back to Sana, but Sana wasn’t looking back at her. Her eyes followed Jeongyeon as she made her way back to the kitchen. Sana swallowed and then her lips parted, still watching. Nayeon turned around to see that Jeongyeon had stopped to reach for something on a tall shelf for Momo.

“Oh my god, you’ve gotta be less obvious,” Nayeon laughed a little as she reached over to give Sana a light tap under her chin, closing her mouth for her. “Which part of that was turning you on? Was it the dirty apron, or the fact that her pants are like three inches too short for her?”

Sana winced, coming back to reality and clapping her hands to her visibly reddening cheeks. “I’m not _turned on_! I just spaced out a little.”

Nayeon laughed, shaking her head, while Sana avoided looking her in the eye. They were quiet for a few moments, until Nayeon broke the silence.

“Sana, can you be honest with me?” she asked. Sana looked up, a bit startled at the sharp tone of her voice, but nodded. “Why did you want to have lunch with me?”

“Because I-- because we’re friends,” she answered. As soft as the sentiment was, there was an edge to her next question. “Unless you’re saying we’re not?”

“Does it matter if we are or not?”

To Nayeon’s slight surprise, Sana smiled at her, and even she couldn’t see anything but affection in it.

“I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose or if it’s just your natural instinct to be skeptical,” she said. “But I get the feeling we might be more alike than you think.”

Nayeon pursed her lips. 

“You’re really like this, huh?” she asked. “It’s not an act?”

“I’m not a very good actress,” Sana answered, smiling at her again, melting away all of Nayeon’s doubts about her intentions and her sincerity. And she felt it too then, a certain kinship with Sana that she hadn't realized before. Maybe she was right.

“Okay then. Friends,” Nayeon said. “So talk to me like a friend. You like Jeongyeon. We can all see it. How serious is it?”

Sana was silent for a moment.

“I haven’t been interested in anyone in a really long time.”

Nayeon nodded. So, pretty serious.

“Momo hasn’t come over to talk to us,” Sana countered her personal question with one of her own. 

“I guess she’s been busy,” Nayeon answered. But when she looked over at Momo, she was leaned over the counter flipping lazily through a magazine. Sana saw too, and then looked back at Nayeon with a raised eyebrow.

“Talk to me like a friend,” Sana said.

“Things have been weird between us. We slept together the other night and I ran out on her in the morning,” Nayeon said, without looking Sana in the eye.

“Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know... I’ve been hurt before.”

“Haven’t we all?” Sana asked, in a voice so soft it made Nayeon’s chest ache a bit.

“Jeongyeon’s problem is that she attracts needy people,” Nayeon said, shifting the focus away from herself and giving Sana information she knew she wanted. “So when she’s in a relationship, she’s always the one that’s giving in and taking care. She loses herself.”

Nayeon could see in Sana’s face that she understood what she was saying, but she didn’t get the chance to answer before two heaping plates were placed in front of them.

“If you order off-menu again, I’m banning you,” Jeongyeon said, placing a few side dishes on the table. “I mean it this time.”

“I’ll just get Sana to un-ban me,” Nayeon replied, reinforced with a nod from Sana.

“Then I’ll go on strike,” Jeongyeon countered.

“If you do, I’ll put Momo in charge,” Sana said before taking a large bite of rice. Jeongyeon blanched at that, silently accepting defeat. “This is amazing, by the way.”

“The secret ingredient is disdain,” Jeongyeon said. She turned to Nayeon. “If you want kimchi fried rice, you could just come over. I would make it for you and Momo.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nayeon said, waving her away. “Get back to work.” 

When she was out of earshot, Nayeon continued her train of thought from earlier, “Jeongyeon deserves someone that will take care of her too.”

 

Sana spending time alone with Nayeon made Jeongyeon nervous. Nayeon was her oldest friend and she knew she had her best interests at heart, but she didn’t trust Nayeon not to meddle too much or say something that would embarrass her. She panicked a little every time Sana laughed a little too loudly or she caught them looking in her direction. Distracting herself with small chores, it took her a moment to notice the man who walked in the door.

His height and expensive clothes made him stick out like a sore thumb. Jeongyeon couldn’t control her grimace when she recognized him and she would have kicked him out, but she knew that would only embarrass Sana. He walked right up to the table where she sat with Nayeon and placed a hand on Sana’s shoulder. Jeongyeon’s fingers balled into tight fists when she remembered that same hand gripping Sana’s arm hard enough to leave a mark.

Surprise and then irritation flashed for just a moment on Sana’s face before it broke into a friendly smile. Nayeon, on the other hand, didn’t have that kind of self-control. She practically sneered at him, taking in his appearance with poorly-masked disgust. Jeongyeon felt a surge of affection for Nayeon. She could appreciate this side of her when she wasn’t the one on the receiving end. 

Jeongyeon tried to focus on anything else, but couldn’t help looking over every few minutes. Her mood dropped each time, eyes drawn magnetically to his hand on her thigh, hers on his forearm, and the way he looked at her. Jeongyeon told a confused Momo to man the counter and then stomped off to the back of the store to do inventory.

 

“So it would just be for a week each month to start out,” Sana said. She sat on her desk, legs swinging lightly, facing Jeonyeon who was seated in a chair. “Focusing on a different country or culture each time, and--”

“It would just be a waste of time,” Jeongyeon cut in. “And money.”

“I don’t think it would hurt to try it,” Sana said.

“Most of the people that come here order the same thing every time.”

“It could help us bring in new customers. Nobody else is--”

“I just think it’s a stupid idea,” Jeongyeon said.

Sana stared at her hard for a moment, then closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples.

“I thought we were done with this,” she sighed.

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who made me stay late.”

“I mean I thought we were done with you fighting me on every single thing!” Sana’s voice was raised and she had stood up, leaning a little closer to Jeongyeon.

“I’m not fighting, I’m just being honest!”

“You’re just being mean! What’s with you?”

“Nothing is with me, Sana. I’m just tired. Let me go home.”

“No! You’re not going home until you tell me why you’re acting like this. Did I do something wrong?”

“You just--” Jeongyeon started. She stood up now too, facing Sana. “You can be so frustrating sometimes! You don’t always have to be so nice to everybody!”

“What are you talking about?”

“That guy, today--” Jeongyeon said. “The guy from the club.”

Sana looked utterly baffled, and Jeongyeon’s stomach started to churn a bit with embarrassment. She’d been simmering all day about something that was so unimportant to Sana that she didn’t even remember it.

“Oh,” Sana finally recalled, but still she looked confused.

“Sana, he made you so uncomfortable that you had to call someone to come get you,” Jeongyeon continued. “And then he shows up today and you act like he’s your best friend!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Sana said, rolling her eyes. “Yell at him in public?”

“No, but you could act like a human for once tell him to back off! He had his hands all over you, and he was looking at you like-- like--” Jeongyeon stopped herself, worried about crossing a line.

“Like what?”

“Like he knows what you look like without clothes on.”

Sana quickly looked down but Jeongyeon didn’t miss the way she blushed.

“Oh,” she said after a moment.

“That’s not fair,” Sana snapped, reading into Jeongyeon’s silence. “What, are you jealous--”

“I am not jealous!”

“So you’re judging--”

“I’m not judging!” Jeongyeon said. She sighed as she continued, “I’m not judging you, anyway. I just don’t like-- It’s just-- Sana, a guy like that doesn’t even deserve to _look_ at you, much less…”

Okay, so maybe she was judging a little bit. Jeongyeon could feel Sana’s eyes on her as she looked stubbornly at the floor. 

“Show me, then,” Sana said. Jeongyeon’s head popped up immediately.

“Huh?”

“Show me what it’s like,” Sana said, eyes glinting as she took Jeongyeon’s hands in her own, drawing her closer, and then placed them on the desk on either side of her hips. “With someone who deserves me.” 

She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She was completely still apart from her eyes, which kept darting from Sana’s eyes to her lips and then back again. Sana leaned forward slowly, ducking down to place soft lips against Jeongyeon’s neck. Jeongyeon shut her eyes, willed herself to do something, anything. Sana continued to ghost her lips along her neck, then her pulse point before pulling back to look at her again.

Pure instinct. When Sana leaned forward once again, clearly aiming for her lips this time, it was pure instinct that made Jeongyeon jerk her head back away from her. And she immediately regretted it. Sana sighed, so close that her breath hit Jeongyeon’s lips, disappointment clear in her eyes.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, pushing her way out of Jeongyeon’s arms and walking toward the door.

“Wait.”

She managed to grab her hand before she was out of reach and pulled her back, flush against her. And then she kissed her. It was more forceful than she had meant for it to be, but Sana didn’t seem to mind, sighing as she relaxed into her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her closer somehow. 

She tried to pull away but Sana just chased her, managing to guide her and press her back against the desk as she did so, deepening their kiss. Jeongyeon could feel her heartbeat accelerate as her knees buckled a bit, but fortunately, Sana and the desk supported her on either side. Finally, they broke the kiss, panting a bit, and Jeongyeon saw her own lightheadedness mirrored in Sana’s clouded over eyes.

Jeongyeon eyes fluttered shut and she leaned her head back when Sana’s lips returned to their earlier position on her neck. She felt a familiar, pleasant pressure growing inside of her as Sana sucked, tongue darting out every so often. Sana managed to get a moan out of her as she slid a leg in between Jeongyeon’s and lightly bit at the base of her neck. Jeongyeon was lifting Sana’s chin back up to kiss her again when--

“Jeongyeon, are you still here? I forgot my-- oh!”

Momo immediately clapped her hands over her eyes at the sight of them. 

“I’m so sorry!” She said, backing out of the room cautiously as she couldn’t see. “I’m leaving, you can keep going!”

“Momo, wait!” Jeongyeon called out after her, gently pushing Sana off of her. “Let me drive you home!”

While Momo’s arrival had jarringly yanked Jeongyeon back to reality, Sana was still shaking her head and catching her breath.

“Wait, you’re just gonna--?” She said, clearly frustrated. “I’m still--”

“I’m really sorry,” Jeongyeon said, quickly collecting her things and walking away before she lost out to her own wants and did something stupid like kiss Sana again. “I have to go.”


	5. everything will be okay

“So Sana kissed you and you just left?”

“Actually, I kissed her,” Jeongyeon answered, still panting a bit from chasing after Momo. She forgot about giving her a ride, opting instead to just walk with her for the few blocks to their apartment. The weather was pleasant enough, the first hints of an autumn breeze sneaking through the air and ruffling Jeongyeon’s hair. 

“So you kissed Sana and you just left?” Momo frowned. “Doesn’t that sound kind of familiar?”

“I know what you’re going to say, but--”

“You’re running away, just like Nayeon,” Momo said, crossing her arms, hurt heavy in her voice.

“It’s different,” Jeongyeon sighed. 

“How?”

“Well, Sana and I aren’t friends--”

 

“Wow. Harsh.”

“No! I mean, we’re friends, it’s just-- we aren’t close like you and Nayeon are.”

“So she has even less of an idea about what’s going through your head,” Momo pointed out, silencing Jeongyeon’s protests.

“I think you should go talk to her,” Momo said after a moment. 

“I… can’t do that,” Jeongyeon said, trying desperately to block out recent memories that kept crashing to the front of her mind like waves on a beach (Sana’s lips on hers, Sana’s tongue on her skin, Sana’s hands starting to wander). “I need some time to think first. And cool off.”

“Whatever you say,” a defeated Momo answered. “I don’t really understand why you’re fighting this so much. That kiss looked… intimate.”

“That’s kind of why,” Jeongyeon said, staring at her feet as she kicked them along the pavement. “When I’m around her, I feel so out of control. Like I’m not myself. I don’t do things like _kiss_ in a workplace!”

Momo gave a soft “hmm,” going quiet and thoughtful.

“Set your alarm for earlier,” Jeongyeon said as they reach their apartment. “We’ll have to walk to work since I left the car there.”

Momo groaned and mumbled what Jeongyeon recognized as a few choice Japanese curse words.

As Jeongyeon was climbing into bed a little later, a sleepy Momo poked her head into her room.  
“Jeongyeon?” she said, toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

“Hm?”

“Maybe losing control sometimes wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

 

“Jeongyeon is like a horse. You’ve spooked her. Now you have to earn back her trust, by being very quiet, not making any sudden movements, and speaking with a soothing, even tone.”

Nayeon was splayed out on Sana’s wildly expensive couch in Sana’s chic apartment, munching on chips she’d found in the pantry.

“Do you mean literally?” Sana asked.

“I meant it metaphorically,” Nayeon said between contemplative chews. “But now that I’m thinking about it, yeah, literally too.” 

Sana felt like laughing at the image in front of her. Just a day ago she’d questioned Nayeon on whether they were friends; now, Nayeon was wearing a set of her pajamas, eating her snacks, looking the picture of comfort in her apartment. They’d both played hooky from work, choosing instead to have a sort of daytime sleepover, complete with movies, blankets, and long talks about their respective crushes.

“Have you talked to Momo?” Sana asked, laying on her stomach on the floor and kicking her feet lazily back and forth in the air.

“In a way, yes,” Nayeon said, whipping out her phone.

“What does that mean?”

“I texted her, asking what time the drama we watch comes on. Very casually, of course.”

“Okay…”

“And she said ‘7:30.’ And nothing else!” Nayeon whined.

Sana laughed, “What did you want her to say?”

“I _wanted_ her to tell me to come watch it with her, or tell me she missed me, or anything at all, really.”

“Did you text her back?”

“Not yet. Do you think I should? What should I say? Should I say ‘thank you’? Or just ‘okay’? Or ‘thnx’, with like just an x?”

“This is pathetic,” Sana said, suppressing another giggle.

“I’m aware of that, Sana!”

Sana climbed up onto the couch and scooched closer to her, gently lifting Nayeon’s head and laying it on her lap.

“I need a plan,” Nayeon said quietly, gazing up at Sana.

“What kind of plan?”

“A plan to-- you’re really handsy, you know that?”

“Oh! Sorry,” Sana said, only then realizing she’d been absent-mindedly playing with Nayeon’s hair.

“No, I don’t mind. It’s sort of soothing. Anyway: a plan to seduce Momo.”

“I don’t think you need to seduce her so much as just talk to her.”

“The art of talking is the most powerful form of seduction.”

“... What? Nayeon, just tell her you like her and you want her to be your girlfriend.”

Nayeon thought for a moment, chewing on her lip. 

“Eh, I’ll figure something out,” she said, sighing. “Maybe you and I should just be together, Sana.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Sana cooed, leaning down to plant a wet kiss on Nayeon’s forehead.

“Gross,” Nayeon immediately wiped it off but couldn’t resist a pouting Sana, popping up for a swift peck under her chin.

 

Sana knew to take Nayeon’s advice with a grain of salt, but she was still her best source on all things Jeongyeon. So this time, headed to the bakery in the evening right before closing, she was ready. She could do this; she could play this game. She could act totally unaffected, pretend that nothing had happened at all.

But she didn’t get the chance, because as soon as she walked through the door, a warm smile and a shy wave greeted her, before beckoning her over. She couldn’t help melting a bit, feet taking her over of their own accord without even a second thought.

“Hey, Sana.” Jeongyeon appeared to be teetering somewhere between eager and bashful. “Where were you today?”

“I… wasn’t feeling so good,” Sana said, completely thrown off by the near seismic shift in attitude of the girl who had practically sprinted away from her just days before. “Just needed a day, I guess.”

“Oh. Well, I hope you’re feeling better,” Jeongyeon said, starting to reach for Sana’s arm. “Can I show you something?”

Sana nodded dazedly, letting Jeongyeon lead her to the back office. 

“I was thinking about what you said.” Jeongyeon said. “About redecorating.”

Once inside the office, Jeongyeon shut the door behind them before moving to the couch, reaching behind it to retrieve a large, rectangular object that Sana could tell was a frame even though its back was turned towards her.

“This isn’t much, but I thought it might be nice.”

Jeongyeon turned it around, revealing a movie poster. It was a bit worn, clearly not printed any time recently, and it depicted a Japanese period film called Under Cover of Darkness. It was an epic romance, set during World War II if the clothing and the planes flying in the background were anything to go by. The man on the cover was handsome and wore a Chinese military uniform. In his arms was a beautiful woman, the romantic lead. And she looked uncannily like Sana.

“I asked about it at this second-hand shop nearby that sells stuff like this and the owner said he could have it shipped in,” Jeongyeon was rambling a bit, excited about her rare find. “It’s your bakery too, now, after all, so I thought a piece of-- Sana?”

Sana hadn’t spoken. The tips of her fingers were pressed lightly to her lips as continued to stare at the poster. Pressure that had started in her chest slowly moved it’s way up into her throat, catching for a moment as she tried to swallow, and then started to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“Oh, Sana, I’m so sorry!” Jeongyeon said as the tears started to slowly make their way down Sana’s cheeks. “I’ll take it back. This was a terrible idea--”

Sana nearly tackled her, wrapping her arms around her, squeezing firmly and nuzzling into her shoulder.

"Thank you,” she mumbled into Jeongyeon’s shirt. 

 

“My dad never let me watch her movies,” Sana said, a few tissues later as she and Jeongyeon sat facing each other on the couch. “He didn’t want to have to think about her, so I wasn’t allowed to either.”

Jeongyeon nodded, noticing Sana glancing back at the poster every few minutes.

“I still haven’t seen most of them. I’d like to, but…”

“What?” Jeongyeon asked. 

“It just has to be perfect. The place, the time, the mood. Everything.” Jeongyeon nodded. 

“You should still watch them, though. She’s amazing.”

“You’ve seen them?” 

“I’m in film school,” Jeongyeon said, chuckling a bit. “And a lot of them are considered modern Japanese classics. We’ve even watched a couple in class.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Sana said. She tilted her head a bit before asking, “How come you never go to school?”

“It’s still summer,” Jeongyeon said. “I start back soon, though.”

“Who’s gonna man the counter while you’re away?”

“Dahyun usually works here during the school year. I’ll plan my class schedule with her and Momo to make sure we have it covered.”

Sana nodded, pressing her lips together in an amused smile.

“What’s that look for?”

“It’s just cute,” Sana answered. “How you all look out for each other. Your little family.”

“It’s yours too now,” Jeongyeon said, feeling her cheeks heat up a bit at her own earnestness. She tried to recover. “I mean, everyone’s _obsessed_ with you. You even won Nayeon over.”

Sana answered with a soft, contented laugh, starting to get up from the couch.

“It’s getting late,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jeongyeon.”

“Wait,” Jeongyeon said, searching for her keys in her pockets. “I can drive you home.”

“My driver is already out front.”

But Sana turned back, returning to Jeongyeon, who had stood up from the couch. She inched closer, looking up at her, slowly leaning forward. Jeongyeon swallowed, again seeing flashes from the last time they were in almost the same position. Then Sana pressed her lips to Jeongyeon’s, sweetly, firmly. She pulled away after a second, but only a bit.

“Sleep well,” she murmured, lips brushing against Jeongyeon’s cheek.

 

Jeongyeon did _not_ sleep well. She also skipped breakfast every morning for the rest of the week. She couldn’t figure out if it was more excitement or nerves at seeing Sana again, but some combination of the two completely rid her of her appetite. However, all her anxiety and anticipation turned out to be for nothing. The next few days, she barely had a chance to breathe, much less talk to Sana. The last tourist surge of the summer had the bakery bustling every day, so Jeongyeon was constantly running around trying to serve the throngs of people and also keep their stocks of baked goods from running out. 

Saturday’s shift ended and still Jeongyeon hadn’t had a moment alone with Sana, leaving her restless and a little frustrated. It had seemed like they were building up to something, and the last thing she wanted was for it to fizzle out because she didn’t act at the right time. She tried her hardest to pretend that she wasn’t desperate for Sana to be at their little group gathering later that night. 

Jeongyeon heard a snort from the doorway of her bedroom and realized that Momo had been watching her as she picked out a shirt to go with her tight, ripped black jeans that looked good on her but definitely didn’t look like she was trying too hard.

“Can you at least be useful?” Jeongyeon asked her, picking up her two finalists. “Which one?”

“Hmm. Does it have to be one of those? Can it be a color other than grey or black?”

“Which. One?” Jeongyeon emphasized.

“That one.” Momo pointed at the grey.

“ _Thank_ you.”

“Do you even know if she’ll be there?”

“Nope,” she answered, pulling on the shirt and once again studying herself in front of the mirror. “Do you wanna text Mina for me and ask?”

“Nope. I’m not getting involved,” Momo said as Jeongyeon tucked her shirt into her jeans, turning to face Momo. “Yeah, I think that looks good.” 

“You ready?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

 

Nayeon hadn’t broken. She hadn’t texted Momo all week. Well, technically she had, but it was a total accident. She’d meant to text Mina but she was kind of distracted and their names were so close together and, well. But it was _definitely_ an accident. 

When she got to the Dahyun-Chaeyoung-Tzuyu household, Momo wasn’t there. She panicked for exactly one second before she remembered the very obvious fact that Momo was working today, so she would be late. 

But when Momo did get there, she only spared Nayeon a glance and a nod amid warm greetings for everyone else. Nayeon’s heart sank, and once again the knowledge that it was entirely her own doing didn’t help at all.

Momo left Jeongyeon behind to head to the kitchen. Nayeon waited a beat, counting to herself before following her in.

“Momo, hey,” she said nonchalantly. “Momo, Mo-mo-mo, Mo-mo-mo-mo… mo.”

Nayeon dug her fingers into her own palms to punish herself for whatever the fuck she had just said.

“Hi,” Momo continued pouring herself a drink. “Do we know each other?”

“Very funny, Momo.”

“ _You’re_ the funny one, Nayeon.” 

Nayeon noticed the slight sharpness in her response.

“Sorry, are we just going to pretend that you didn’t ignore me all week too?”

“I only did what you wanted.”

“That’s not what I wanted!”

“Then what do you want?” Momo kept her tone even. 

“I just--” Nayeon faltered. “Can we not do this tonight?”

Momo rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

“Momo, _please_.”

She paused.

“I haven’t seen you all week. I just want to hang out with my best friend.”

Guilt snaked around Nayeon’s heart, making her feel sick at the conflicted look that appeared on Momo’s face. She could feel herself being manipulative, taking advantage of Momo’s loyalty, but she also couldn’t stop it. She wanted this too much. She silently promised herself that she would make it up to Momo later.

Momo nodded and gave a resigned smile before Nayeon latched onto her, leading her back into the living room.

 

Jeongyeon heard Sana before she saw her, the high, tinkling laugh carrying through the front door as Mina opened it and the two of them stepped through. She sort of wanted to get up and run to greet her, but she stayed planted on the floor next to the couch. However, she couldn't stop herself from staring at Sana and waiting for her to meet her gaze. When she did, Jeongyeon saw Sana break into a dreamy, irrepressible smile to match her own before starting to walk over to Jeongyeon.

"Hi," Sana said as she plopped on the floor next to Jeongyeon.

"Hey," Jeongyeon answered, shyly hugging her knees to her chest. It took until that exact second for Jeongyeon to realize that while she’d been (she couldn’t really deny it anymore) excited to see Sana again, she had no idea what she wanted to say to her. “I wasn’t sure you were coming.”

“Nayeon wanted me here for moral support,” Sana looked around and found Nayeon sitting almost on top of Momo. “But it looks like she doesn’t really need it.”

“Nayeon?”

“Oh, yeah. I wasn’t really sick the other day. I was hanging out with her.”

Jeongyeon felt herself grimace before she could stop it.

Sana laughed, “What’s with the face?”

“You two getting close… is a little terrifying.”

“Why?”

“You’re both trouble. And Nayeon knows pretty much all of my secrets.”

“Ah,” Sana grew serious. “She knows a lot of mine now, too. Is she good at keeping them?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Sana shook her head in mock concern, settling herself closer next to Jeongyeon in front of the couch.

 

A movie was played, this time something pretentious picked out by Chaeyoung, as everyone settled in with blankets, pillows, snacks, and strong and weak drinks.

Sana somehow managed to maneuver herself so that Jeongyeon’s arm was over her shoulders. A couple winks and quirked eyebrows shot their way made Jeongyeon blush, but she just answered with some toothless glares and subtly pulled Sana closer.

Not many made it through the second film selection of the evening (a genial romantic comedy). Momo and Nayeon had left together first, with Jihyo following soon after. Chaeyoung dozed off on the couch and Tzuyu had to help her to bed, and then Dahyun invited a sleepy Mina to crash with her for the night.

Which left only two, wrapped up in cushy blankets and surrounded by pillows. The only light came from the TV and a lamp that stood on a table in the corner, casting a soft golden glow over the room. The volume of the movie had been turned down to a steady murmur so Sana and Jeongyeon just talked over it, giving it their attention only every once in a while.

“You wouldn’t want to be the main character in your own movie?”

“If you’re the lead, something bad is going to happen to you about two-thirds of the way through,” Jeongyeon explained, grabbing a pillow and laying down. “So yeah, I’m fine with being the best friend.”

“But it always works out in the end,” Sana said, following Jeongyeon’s lead and making herself comfortable on the floor.

“Not always.”

“That’s a little cynical.”

“Mm,” Jeongyeon’s giddy energy was starting to fade into a pleasant drowsiness.

"I thought you were going to avoid me," Sana’s brown eyes shone in the dim light. She meant it as a question. "Nayeon said you would."

Her forwardness wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“That was my first instinct,” Jeongyeon played with a frayed edge on her blanket before looking back up at her. "But I didn’t want to keep making the same mistake. Wouldn't that be boring?"

“Awfully boring.” Sana dropped her gaze, eyes lingering on Jeongyeon’s lips. 

A few minutes of contented silence was interrupted by a hot and heavy moment between the leads of the film. Jeongyeon and Sana both flushed, smiling, as the love scene played out in front of them. 

“Do you know what wouldn’t be boring?” Sana turned back to Jeongyeon with a look that made her heart stop for a second: head tilted down, one eyebrow raised. It was somehow sweet and pleading and sinful and commanding all at once. 

“Kiss me again,” she said. 

Sana tasted like the strawberry flavored sparkling wine she’d been drinking all night. The kiss deepened quickly, Sana moving closer and running a hand through Jeongyeon’s hair, Jeongyeon wrapping an arm around Sana’s waist. It was like they’d paused a few days ago and were just picking up where they left off.

“I don’t know if-- Sana, they’re sleeping just a room away,” Jeongyeon protested weakly between kisses as she felt fingers undoing the button on her jeans. She barely noticed her own hand trailing its way up Sana’s thigh under her skirt. 

“Then we’ll just have to be quiet,” Sana said, unzipping Jeongyeon’s pants. “Unless you want to stop?”

“I-- “ A soft moan cut off whatever Jeongyeon was about to say as San pressed her fingers against her through her underwear.

“Well?” 

“ _Please_ , don’t stop.” 

Sana wasted no time, pulling Jeongyeon’s jeans down to her mid-thigh and sliding her hand between her legs, and when she did she couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped from her lips.

“Sorry, but you’re just so--”

“I know,” Jeongyeon groaned, throwing an arm over her face to hide her blush. “It’s… you. I can’t help it.”

“Me too,” Sana cut in, watching hungrily to see Jeongyeon’s reaction as she thrusted a little deeper. She kept up a steady pace, kissing down Jeongyeon’s neck, licking over her collarbone. 

With some effort Jeongyeon breathed out a raspy, desperate, “ _Sana_ ,” and Sana nodded, going a little faster and covering Jeongyeon’s mouth with her hand, placing gentle kisses to her face and neck to counter the somewhat aggressive move. 

And then Sana felt it, in the way Jeongyeon’s mouth opened just slightly under her hand as her eyes closed shut. She felt it in the way Jeongyeon gripped her ass, pulling her closer. She felt it in the way she shivered against her body. And Sana loved that it was all her doing. It was her new favorite thing in the world. 

Jeongyeon pulled her flush against her again, kissing her as she came down. She pulled away before laying her head against Sana’s chest.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. She felt impossibly warm and safe wrapped around Sana. “I’m sorry I ever ran away.”

Sana’s kiss to her forehead was accompanied by a soft giggle, before she rolled on top of Jeongyeon, the look from before returning.

“Make it up to me.”

 

Nayeon should have seen it. There were little signs everywhere. The tugs at her hair were a little harsher, the bites a little harder, and the hands that touched her, grabbed her, squeezed at her, were a little rougher than the last time. But she ignored it, instead choosing to play along, answering with her tongue, her own bites, her nails scratching down Momo’s hips. 

“I really, really missed you,” Nayeon said, coming up for air from between Momo’s legs.

“Shh,” Momo said, shutting her eyes tighter.

“I’m so sorry,” Nayeon continued, sliding two fingers into Momo while she spoke. “I was just--

“Nayeon, shut up.”

Nayeon stopped. 

“What? I’m just trying to--”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Momo said, squirming a bit. “But I’d like to stay in the mood. You saying a bunch of things you’re just going to pretend you didn’t say in the morning isn’t helping.”

Nayeon felt it like a slap to the face. She was dumbfounded for a moment. Momo held still, staying quiet, waiting for what Nayeon would do next. 

But Nayeon was no quitter. She lowered her mouth again, pushing her tongue deeper and pressing at Momo’s most sensitive spots with a quicker rhythm. She reached up to take a nipple between her fingers, squeezing tighter than she normally would, but it had the desired effect. Momo’s gasped, hips thrusting forward a bit. Nayeon could tell she was right up on the edge, so she helped her over, sliding her fingers in, pumping at a steady, quickening rhythm as she used her mouth just above them. Momo’s breath hitched before she let out a soft, half moan half sigh. Nayeon’s tongue gently helped her ride it out with soft licks until her last small shudder. 

When Momo opened her eyes again, Nayeon was hovering above her.

“I’m sorry,” Nayeon said determinedly as she cupped Momo’s cheeks with her hands, locking eyes with her. “I messed up and it was all my fault. I missed you like crazy.”

She turned away from Momo, flopping her head on the pillow and pulling the blanket up to cover her shoulders. A moment passed as she stared at the wall, hurt and guilt and sadness whirling through her mind, impossible to tell apart. 

And then an arm slid underneath her as another reached over her, joining at her stomach, wrapping her up and pulling her back into Momo, whose soft breath she felt against her neck. 

Drowsiness, contentedness, and the last remaining waves of arousal washed over her as she wiggled even closer to her human blanket and closed her eyes, a goofy, sleepy smile painting itself on her face as she drifted off.

 

Nayeon woke to a nose rubbing gently against the back of her neck. She could tell by the coolness of the sunlight that it was still early in the morning.

“Now’s your chance,” Momo mumbled. “You can make your escape. I’ll pretend I’m still asleep.”

Nayeon shifted to turn around, looking up at her. 

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She buried her face in Momo’s chest, wrapping her arms around her and sliding her legs so they interlocked with Momo’s.

“Now don’t fucking wake me up again.”


	6. wild and wired

Jeongyeon woke up to the TV playing cartoons at a low volume and a crunching sound coming from somewhere behind her. She raised her head a bit and looked back to see a cereal-eating Dahyun seated on the couch, who greeted her with a lazy wave of her spoon. In what she hoped was a subtle move, she quickly checked under the blanket to find that, yes, thankfully, she and Sana both had their clothes back on. She couldn’t fight off her smile when she saw that Sana’s arm lay over her stomach, clutching loosely at Jeongyeon’s shirt, and it only grew as her eyes traveled upwards a bit to take in a sleeping Sana, facing towards her on her pillow, mouth slightly open, hair messy and in her face. 

 

Sana woke up to the persistent buzzing of Jeongyeon’s phone and a deadpanned “What?” when she answered it. She was curious at Jeongyeon’s tone until she heard Nayeon’s voice on the other end. 

Sana looked around her, both realizing where she was and remembering bits and pieces from the night before. She smiled up at Dahyun and gave a wave, which Dahyun returned before pointing at Jeongyeon, then at Sana, and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Sana shook her head fiercely, but her reddening cheeks and widening smile gave her away. Dahyun gave a silent, theatrical gag before grinning, shaking her head and returning her attention to her food and cartoons. 

“That was Nayeon,” Jeongyeon turned to Sana, laying her head back on the pillow. “She tried to make breakfast for Momo, but obviously that was a huge disaster and somehow she wasted all the food in our apartment in the process.”

“She's persistent,” Sana noted, nodding.

“She asked me to either go grocery shopping or pick something up on my way home,” Jeongyeon continued. “What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you want me to make us breakfast at my place or should we pick something up?”

The sheepish look on Jeongyeon’s face finally clued Sana in to what she was asking. And it was so, so silly to feel so much at something so small, but Sana couldn’t help it. Jeongyeon wanted to have breakfast with her. She wasn’t scrambling, coming up with excuses to leave. She wanted to spend more time with her. Sana felt like singing.

“Um… You cook all the time, right? Let’s pick something up. My treat.”

“No way, it’s my treat. Nayeon’s my responsibility.”

“Jeongyeon, I’m kind of a billionaire. It’s my treat.”

Jeongyeon smiled, finally agreeing, “I always forget about that. Your treat, then.”

 

Momo didn’t know Nayeon from _before_ , but she’d heard about it from Jeongyeon. They were at a house party (Momo forgot the occasion), watching from the sidelines as Nayeon danced and flirted (Momo felt a bit sick but couldn’t put her finger on why). She had seen her do this before. Someone new would be in her bed by the end of the night. Momo asked Jeongyeon why Nayeon never dated anyone seriously.

“Nayeon used to be really sweet, actually,” Jeongyeon said, smiling sadly as she joined Momo watching Nayeon. “She always jumped into relationships all excited and hopeful. She was so thoughtful, planning intricate dates, going all out for birthdays. It was kind of adorable, even though I’d never tell her that.”

“What happened?” Momo was a bit anxious to hear, worried and concerned for this past version of Nayeon.

“It wasn’t like it was one thing that changed her forever. It just kind of… happened. She dated all the wrong people, I think. They were never as serious about her. They made her feel silly for putting in so much effort. And then she’d end up broken-hearted, crying, feeling stupid. So eventually, I guess she started to shut that part of herself down.”

It broke Momo’s heart a little, especially as Nayeon looked over at them, waving and flashing her sunny, toothy grin. Momo couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to see that smile every day, not wanting to be the reason behind it. Momo wanted to be the reason behind it. She would do anything to keep it there, right where it belonged.

“But I think… if the right person found her,” Jeongyeon was gazing at Momo thoughtfully. Momo just smiled and nodded, pretending Jeongyeon wasn’t seeing right through her.

 

So when Nayeon looked at her that night in the kitchen, she saw it. The slight pleading, the panic, the hurt. She saw it all there in Nayeon’s eyes. And this time it was her fault. Nothing else mattered then. The stomach aches she’d had all week, the crying sessions in the shower, the hours spent fretting over text messages she didn’t know if she should send. All of it fell to nothing. She just wanted Nayeon to smile again. 

And then, well, she couldn’t resist. She’d fallen back in, and there was a hand on her thigh and Nayeon wasn’t looking anywhere but at her, and then she was leaning in, lips brushing against her ear. Nayeon really wasn’t holding back, recounting her favorite moments from the last time they were together in vivid, overly-descriptive detail. Momo was only human.

But back at her apartment, it started to feel a little too familiar. Nayeon was saying a lot of the things she said the first time, and while it didn’t quite turn Momo off, it did remind her that Nayeon essentially took it all back in the morning. She’d ripped the rug out from under her by running off after so many promises and soft sentiments.

She tried to build up some sort of security, reminded herself over and over again that this probably wasn’t real, it wouldn’t last, enjoy it for what it is, Momo. And then Nayeon was looking at her like that, all determination and warmth, and she fell once more.

And in the morning, sober, she gave one last, half-hearted shot at letting Nayeon get away without making too much of a fuss. But Nayeon stayed. 

 

The clanging of pots and pans and an exasperated “ _shit_!” coming from the kitchen were the first things that Momo heard as she slowly, gently drifted awake. She couldn’t help giggling at the voice that was maybe the most familiar to her in the whole world.

A few minutes passed as Momo let herself lay around for a bit, giving Nayeon time to do whatever she was doing, but the sound of the front door opening and a couple more voices motivated her to get up and join them in the living room.

Momo tried not to show her surprise at seeing Jeongyeon walk in with Sana, but she immediately turned and locked eyes with Nayeon, who grinned somewhat maliciously back at her, scrunching her nose and cocking an eyebrow. Momo covered her mouth, silencing a chuckle. 

“Sana said she would pay, so we ordered almost everything on the menu,” Jeongyeon said, clearly trying her hardest to seem calm and casual as she placed large plastic bags filled with takeout boxes on the counter. Momo had already made it to the kitchen and was hovering over Jeongyeon’s shoulder, peering at every dish as it was opened and revealed. Generous helpings were quickly spooned onto her plate before she scurried to claim a place for herself on the couch.

Curiously, Nayeon didn’t make herself a plate, instead approaching Momo on the couch. 

“Wha--” Momo started to say as Nayeon took her plate out of her hands, sitting on Momo’s lap and starting to eat her food. Momo was about to protest, but was silenced when Nayeon offered her the next bite with a soft “ah” as her indication to open her mouth. 

“Gross,” Jeongyeon interjected from the kitchen. But Momo was too focused on the way Nayeon was gazing down at her lips, a small smile playing on her own, to notice. She swallowed, and then took a moment to catch her breath when Nayeon finally turned back to the food.

Nayeon continued in that pattern: her, Momo, her, Momo, her, her, (“Hey!”) Momo, Momo, her. Momo couldn’t think of a time she’d been happier than in that moment, with Nayeon’s warmth and gentle weight on top of her, her hunger gradually ebbing away with the help of good food. And to top it off, she got to watch Jeongyeon and Sana in their awkward, peculiar dance with each other.

Jeongyeon seemed to be doing everything in her power to avoid making eye contact with Sana, even as she buzzed around her making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. Sana, on the other hand, kept up a constant, sparkling gaze at Jeongyeon, as if competing in a staring contest that her opponent was completely unaware of. She didn’t even look away when Jeongyeon finally accidentally met her gaze, just grinned wider, causing Jeongyeon to stutter mid-sentence. Nayeon turned back and snickered into Momo’s shirt, clutching at her sleeve to steady herself.

 

Sana had already started toward the kitchen for a refill of her water when Jeongyeon realized that she’d fumbled her hosting duties. 

“Let me get that for you!” she yelped, hopping up and hurrying to the kitchen.

“I think I can handle this on my own,” Sana said as Jeongyeon grabbed her shoulders and tried to steer her back to the living room. She wiggled out of Jeongyeon’s grip, but grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen with her. 

“I know,” Jeongyeon said as she let herself be led. “I’m just trying to be--”

Sana turned to face her, cutting her off with a swift kiss to her cheek.

“Sweet,” she said, smiling at Jeongyeon’s flustered, furrowed brow and pinking cheeks. “You are. But you’re starting to make me feel high-maintenance.”

“I’m sorry,” Jeongyeon said. “I’m just nervous. It’s weird having you here--”

Sana’s face fell, her smile fading for the first time that day.

“Good weird!” Jeongyeon quickly corrected. “It’s nice. That’s why it makes me so nervous.”

Sana’s smile returned, and she moved closer to Jeongyeon, nudging her gently until she was backed up against the counter.

“You don’t have to try so hard,” she said, lips moving steadily toward their target. “I’m easy to please.”

Nayeon and Momo booed at them from the living room as Jeongyeon let Sana press a sweet, slightly open-mouthed kiss to her lips. 

 

“Can we watch the show that Nayeon’s on?” Sana asked innocently as they settled back on the couch.

“No!” Nayeon said, cheeks warming as she grimaced.

“Come on,” Momo said, pouting at Nayeon. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Can’t you watch it when I’m not here?”

“That’s no fun!”

“I’m only in one scene,” Nayeon groaned. “You’d miss me if you looked away for a second.”

“How many minutes until your part?” she asked, already starting to play the episode and failing to hide the gleeful grin that had appeared courtesy of embarrassing Nayeon.

“I’m not telling you.”

“Then we’ll just watch the whole thing! We’ve got all day,” Jeongyeon ducked as Nayeon threw one of the couch pillows at her.

“It’s about twenty minutes in,” Nayeon grumbled, hiding her face with her hands. “God, this feels like a stress dream.”

“You’ll be fine,” Jeongyeon said. “Let us appreciate your talent.”

“Just tell me when it’s over.”

Nayeon appeared on-screen, a barista working behind the counter at a coffee shop that the lead had just entered. She took his order, beaming the entire time, smile only faltering for a bit when his character realized he had forgotten his wallet and couldn’t pay. But of course, his love interest appeared to foot the bill for him after some flirty, teasing banter.

“I hope you both have a nice day,” TV Nayeon said as Real Nayeon watched through her fingers.

“Wow, Nayeon,” Jeongyeon said. “You’re _really_ good.”

“Thank--”

“I’ve never seen you be that polite at your real job.”

“... you,” Nayeon grumbled, smile dropping as she rolled her eyes.

 

The morning gave way to afternoon, which gently faded into early evening, warm pinkish glow of the setting sun falling on the countertops, the floor, and the four girls still seated together on the couch. There hadn’t been a single moment of silence the whole day. Sana was a new person that the other three could tell old stories to, each trying to outdo and embarrass the others. They took turns laughing, trying to clap hands over each other’s mouths, and covering their own faces at somewhat painful memories. 

Sana knew she shouldn’t let herself feel this way. The pressure in her chest somewhere between the verge of tears and breaking into hysterical laughter wasn’t entirely new. She’d had crushes before. Maybe she’d even been in love. Princes, heiresses, famous actors and actresses. Sana wasn’t short on dating experience. But somehow, this goofy bakery girl wearing a shirt two sizes too big for her, laughing with her entire mouth open-- somehow this was different. It was more. 

So Sana wiggled closer to Jeongyeon, fitting against her on the couch and again feeling a slight flutter in her chest when Jeongyeon didn’t move away, but instead wrapped her arms around her. She still flinched a bit when Sana kissed her on the cheek, but she didn’t complain, and she started to smile even as she was still talking. 

Sana took her leave as the sky turned dusky outside, pulling Jeongyeon out into the hallway of her apartment building for a private moment. Her heart started to thump faster than she would have liked, the pace changing with each breath she took as she looked up at the other girl. So she leaned up a bit and pressed her lips softly against Jeongyeon’s, if only to get the most nerve-wracking part out of the way. And at the firm press back against her lips and the hand coming to wrap lazily around her waist, her heart rate evened out. She couldn’t help smiling into the kiss, once again feeling giddy enough that she could easily break into laughter. 

As they both pulled away, she felt the soft stroke of Jeongyeon’s thumb against her cheek. She leaned into the touch as she opened her eyes, taking in the sight before her: somewhat sleepy eyes gazing back at her, a slight, soft smile, and a brow completely devoid of any of its usual tension. A contented, dazed Jeongyeon.

“Sorry,” she said, quickly snapping out of it and dropping her hands from Sana’s face. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess?”

Sana nodded, capturing Jeongyeon in a tight hug, feeling her head lean against her. 

“See you tomorrow.”

 

The smile on Jeongyeon’s face when she fell asleep that night, soft memories from the night before replaying in her head, hadn’t disappeared when she woke up the next morning. It remained as she got ready for work, and only grew on the way there. Her car radio coincidentally only played love songs the entire ride to work, and she sang along unrestrainedly, releasing some of the buoyant energy built up in her chest.

Sana wasn’t there yet when she arrived at the bakery, but it didn’t bother her as she got to work preparing for the day ahead. She blushed a little as she heard the door open, waiting a moment to look up and see-- not Sana. 

Instead, two men walked in. Their hair was combed back neatly and they wore sleek suits, both appearing to be in their mid-thirties. 

“Hi,” Jeongyeon said, hiding her disappointment at these two Not-Sanas. “What can I get for you?”

“Oh, ah-- nothing,” one of the men answered. He swept a bored look over the shop before turning to his companion and talking.”

“Would you like anything?” Jeongyeon asked the other man pointedly. 

“No, we’re just here to inspect the place.” He appeared irritated at Jeongyeon’s question

“Inspect-- like, a health inspection?”

Again, they both looked affronted at her interruption, but all three turned around as the front door opened and Sana finally arrived. Jeongyeon smiled at her over their shoulders before returning her attention to the intruders.

“We’re here on behalf of the potential buyer,” one of them finally answered.

Jeongyeon saw Sana flinch at that, and her own mind went blank for a moment.

“The… buyer? You mean Mr. Minatozaki?”

“... No, the firm that’s set to purchase the property from Mr. Minatozaki. ”

Jeongyeon felt her knees go weak as she stared at the man, before turning towards Sana. Sana stared back at her, mouth slightly open, with a hard to read look in her eyes.

“Excuse me,” Jeongyeon said, rushing to the back of the shop, feeling her breath start to get short.

She placed her hands on the desk when she reached the back room, leaning over it and trying to ground herself, focusing only on the deep breaths she was trying to take. She heard familiar, quick footsteps behind her, and a breathless “Jeongyeon!”

“Did you know about this?” she asked, not looking up at Sana, continuing to lean over the desk and glare at a spot on it. 

“Of course not,” Sana said, a soft pleading tone tingeing her voice. Jeongyeon flinched away from Sana’s attempt to lay a hand on her shoulder. “Jeongyeon, please.”

“You didn’t look surprised,” Jeongyeon faced her, squaring her shoulders. “Even right now, you don’t really seem shocked.”

She surprised herself with how harsh her voice had become, accusation saturating it.

“I--” Sana sighed, looking down. “I thought he might do this. He’s under investigation, so he’s selling off some of his assets for clean money. It’s happened before. But I didn’t know for sure.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I thought we had more time! And I didn’t want it to--” Sana looked back up at Jeongyeon, tears starting to form. “I thought you’d hate me again if I had to tell you.”

Jeongyeon just frowned at her, finding it more and more difficult to stay angry when Sana looked at her like that. But Sana kept this from her. Sana said nothing, even after they got closer, even after--

“I’m sorry Sana,” she started to grab her things, making to leave. “I think I need some space.”

“Jeongyeon, please,” Sana grabbed her arm, starting to slide her hand down to hold Jeongyeon’s. “It’s the middle of the day. What about customers?”

Jeongyeon huffed out a mean, empty laugh.

“This place isn’t even going to exist in a few weeks. What’s the point?”

“Can you please just talk to me?”

Jeongyeon shrugged out of Sana’s grip.

“I can’t be around you right now,” she said quietly, giving one last look, seeing the tears finally fall down Sana’s face, before turning and leaving. 

She felt the pressure in her own chest building, her own tears forming, flowing as she exited through the back. She let out a shaky, barely audible sob once she was seated in her car, head falling to rest on the steering wheel.

 

Sana felt like she’d lost a fistfight. Or been hit by a truck. She’d sunk down onto the office couch when Jeongyeon left, laying her head on its arm and crying dark marks into it. The conversation played on loop in her head, rewinding, slowing down, pausing for longer than she liked on every hurt expression on Jeongyeon’s face.

She didn’t expect Jeongyeon to answer the phone when she called, just a few hours later. It didn’t surprise her that all her texts went unanswered for the next couple of days. But it still hurt. More than needing an answer, Sana just wanted her name to appear on Jeongyeon’s phone and remind her that she existed.

After 2 weeks had gone by, Sana was feeling anxious, impatient, irritated. A little angry. Sure, she understood that Jeongyeon was hurting. But it wasn’t _actually_ her fault. There wasn’t anything she could have done, and she didn’t feel like she deserved to be totally ignored. In a huff, she headed to Jeongyeon’s apartment.

A couple determined knocks were laid on Jeongyeon’s door. 

“Jeongyeon, come on!” she practically whined, smacking her palm against the door a few times for good measure.

To her surprise, the door actually opened. To her even greater surprise, she was now face to face with Nayeon, who gave her an unenthusiastic nod before turning on her heel and heading for the couch.

“Where’s Jeongyeon?” Sana asked, completely thrown as Nayeon sat down and took a large drink from the cup on the table in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

“Sana,” Nayeon started, ignoring her question and encouraging Sana to sit down next to her with a pat to the couch. “How do you know if you’ve been broken up with?”

Sana could tell by the slight drawl of Nayeon’s words that whatever was in that cup wasn’t water. She relaxed a bit, setting down her coat and bag and taking her place next to Nayeon, who offered her a sip.

“I don’t know, Nayeon,” Sana answered, accepting the cup and drinking some down.

“Momo went to-- okay, not so much! Go get your own-- Momo went to a dance workshop in Japan a week ago and she hasn’t answered any of my phone calls or texted me back.”

“You think she’s breaking up with you?”

Nayeon shrugged, “I don’t know why else she would be ignoring me. We aren’t even _officially_ together. Maybe she’s letting me off easy.”

“I don’t even know where Jeongyeon is,” Sana answered glumly. “And I haven’t talked to her in two weeks.”

“Jeongyeon was on the same flight as Momo.”

“She went to a dance workshop?”

Nayeon snorted into her drink at the idea of Jeongyeon dancing.

“No, she just booked the same flight. She said she had to get out of here, and I don’t think she cared where to.”

“Oh,” Sana said. Well, at least now she knew where she was. Sort of. “So what are you doing here?”

“I like it here,” Nayeon sighed. “I like it better than my own apartment. Wh-- where are you going?”

Sana had gotten up, returning a moment later with a cup for herself. She didn’t want to be alone and could tell by the way Nayeon clung to her and the pleading tone of her voice that neither did she.

“Oh,” Nayeon said, sounding relieved. “We’re pretty pathetic, huh?”

“Yep,” Sana responded, wincing as she sipped her drink. Maybe a bit too strong. “Do you need to talk some more?”

“Not right now,” Nayeon answered, reaching for the remote control. “Let’s just watch something really stupid and violent.”

Sana nodded, giving a soft laugh 

Drinks continued to be poured as they watched together, sinking gradually into the couch and into each other, Nayeon’s head finding its place on Sana’s shoulder, Sana leaning on her too, Nayeon’s arm sneaking behind Sana and wrapping around her, pulling her closer. A particularly gory scene had Sana covering her face with her hands, peeking through her fingers occasionally.

“It’s over,” Nayeon said through her chuckling, pulling at Sana’s hands gently.

“I don’t believe you!” 

“Just trust me!”

Sana let her hands fall. That’s when she saw that Nayeon’s face was inches from hers, grinning at her lazily. She saw Nayeon’s eyes drop to her lips, for just a moment. Nayeon blinked, looking back up into her eyes, a reflection of her own clouded, dizzy vision. Nayeon inched closer, still looking at her, curious, seemingly gauging her reaction. Sana leaned forward.

She knew it wouldn’t solve anything; if anything, it could easily make things worse. But in that moment, it felt really good. Her sadness gave way to desire as she clutched at Nayeon’s shirt, their first clumsy kiss turning into something deeper, more, a little frantic. She pulled away to press kisses to Nayeon’s neck, not paying much mind to pace, wondering absentmindedly for a split second how far this was going to go and how awkward it would be after. 

Nayeon’s hand wound itself through her hair, tugging softly at first, then a little harder as she brought her back up to kiss her again. Then she felt a hand on the hem of her shirt, and she pulled away to let Nayeon lift it off of her before she was pressed back down onto the couch.

“Oh!”

Nayeon and Sana hadn’t heard the door unlock or open, but they heard Momo’s startled gasp when she walked in.

“Momo, what--” Jeongyeon said as she followed her inside. “What the fuck?”

Nayeon had quickly, clumsily climbed off of Sana, who was left to search around for her discarded shirt, flush blooming in her cheeks and traveling down her neck.

Momo’s state of frozen shock finally broke and she was able to move, turning around briskly and walking back out of the apartment.

“Momo, wait!” Nayeon called after her, getting up and practically sprinting to try and catch up to her.


	7. motivation

It was silent for a few moments as Sana pulled on her shirt and Jeongyeon set her bags down.

“You should go,” she said softly, starting to walk towards her bedroom.

Sana’s stomach twisted with guilt and embarrassment. A flash of irritation burned when she remembered how Jeongyeon had frozen her out for the past two weeks. But a part of her was just happy to see her again, even like this.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

Jeongyeon stopped.

“Tokyo.”

“You didn’t answer any of my phone calls or texts,” Sana said weakly. “I thought we were--”

“You thought we were what?” Jeongyeon asked sharply, finally looking back at her. “Together? Is that why you were about to sleep with my best friend?”

“We weren’t about to--”

“Really? Then what would have happened if Momo and I hadn’t walked in?”

Sana couldn’t answer that. She just looked at the floor.

“That’s not fair,” she said, firmly and quietly.

Jeongyeon just stared at her.

“I was sad, okay?” Sana continued, with a bit more conviction. “I didn't know if you would ever speak to me again. You do stupid things sometimes when you’re in love and you can feel it-- running away from you!”

She didn’t wait for a response, grabbing her things and rushing out, ignoring the way Jeongyeon’s eyebrows shot up.

 

“Okay, what do you want to say?”

Momo hadn’t made Nayeon chase her for long, turning to face her on the street as soon as she caught up.

“I-- you… you were ignoring me,” Nayeon managed to stammer out, realizing that she didn’t really have a plan.

“They took up our phones at the beginning of the workshop,” Momo answered perfunctorily. “I guess to make us ‘focus on dance.’ I called you as soon as they gave them back at the end. And texted.”

Nayeon pulled out her phone, finally seeing the notifications she’d missed while her attention had been on drinking and Sana.

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal,” Momo finished. “If I just talked to you when I got back.”

Nayeon felt stupider than she ever had.

“I-- I’m so sorry, Momo,” she started. “I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s okay,” Momo interrupted, resignedly. “It’s my fault.”

“What? What part of this is _your_ fault?”

Momo took a deep breath.

“It’s not like I haven’t been paying attention. I know how you are with… dating. I thought that I could be okay with it. With just being with you when you wanted me. Just... having a piece of you. But I guess I wasn’t, and I tried to make you be someone you’re not. I’m really sorry, Nayeon.”

“Momo…”

“I think I need some time. I’m not saying we can’t be friends again but… yeah. For now, I think it’s best if we don’t see each other.”

Momo sounded utterly defeated, small, sad. And Nayeon felt totally ripped open by it. She felt raw, and more than that: responsible. Nayeon was using every ounce of her will to prevent herself from crying, but her voice still came out strained.

“That’s really what you want?”

Momo nodded, looking down as she tugged a bit on the straps of the backpack she’d forgotten to take off.

Nayeon swallowed. The familiar tightness in her chest and uncomfortable lump in her throat told her she had just a couple seconds before complete breakdown, so she tried to use them wisely.

“Okay. Um, I guess I’ll see you-- I’ll see you sometime.”

Momo looked at her for a few moments, with those same big, glossy eyes. Then her head fell, and she walked back into her apartment building. 

As soon as the door closed behind her, Nayeon’s back hit the wall and she sank down, sitting on the ground, pulling her knees close to her. Her body shook a bit as her tears fell and she let out the tension that she’d been restraining for the last few minutes. 

A shadow fell over her. Someone was standing in front of her, blocking the glow from the streetlight. For just a second, she couldn’t stop herself from hoping. But she knew it wasn’t her. It wasn’t Momo. She looked up and saw exactly who she expected.

“This is how you know,” Sana said quietly.

“What?”

“This is how you know you’ve been broken up with,” she held out a hand, which Nayeon took, and helped lift her up off of the ground. “My driver will be here in a minute.”

Nayeon nodded, understanding that Sana didn’t want to be alone, and that Sana knew she didn’t either.

The ride to Sana’s apartment was silent. Nayeon stared glumly out the window, forehead resting against it, while Sana just shut her eyes and leaned her head back.

 

A little while later, slumped on an expensive couch, drinking expensive liquid from an expensive cup, Nayeon found her words once more.

“I was never going to be good enough for her.”

A lazy snort from Sana wasn’t the answer she expected.

“I’m sorry, is something funny?”

“I don’t believe in that.”

“In what?”

“In… being good enough. It’s not something that you just _are_ ,” Sana’s tongue felt heavier, her head was spinning a bit, and she couldn’t quite find the words, but she powered through. “It’s not like some people are born deserving love and some aren’t.”

Nayeon said nothing, a smile starting to form.

“It’s something you do. Does that make sense?"

"No," Nayeon laughed.

"Ugh... Okay, so you love Momo, right?”

Nayeon nodded.

“So just _be_ good enough for her. Prove you love her enough to be worth it. Show it to her. And to yourself.”

“That’s a great speech and everything, Sana,” Nayeon sat up, frowning a bit. “But what are you doing to _be_ good enough for Jeongyeon?”

“Oh, I have a plan,” Sana said, taking another drink straight from her bottle. “Something I should have done a long time ago.”

“Okay, drama queen,” Nayeon said. She answered Sana’s subsequent wink with an eyeroll and a chuckle. “What’s your big plan?”

Sana leaned forward and started to explain what she was going to do in the upcoming weeks in a low, somber tone. Nayeon’s eyes grew wide, and her lips parted unconsciously.

“All of that, just for Jeongyeon?” Nayeon asked once Sana had come to the end of her objective, a hint of awe in her expression and her tone.

“It’s for me, too,” Sana clarified. “Like I said. I shouldn’t have waited so long.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow.” 

Sana looked more serious, more resolute than Nayeon had ever seen her. Somehow, it gave her comfort. 

“Ready for bed?” Sana asked, seeing Nayeon trying to stifle a yawn.

Nayeon nodded, “But I’ll take the couch, so you’re not tempted to try and get in my pants again.”

Sana narrowed her eyes, slowly reaching behind her to grab a pillow.

“I’m glad--” Nayeon was struck by a blow to the side of her head-- “we can already”-- another to her stomach-- “joke about that!” 

Sana finished her combo, pillow coming down on top of Nayeon’s head as she cowered with her arms up, guarding her face.

“I’m sorry!” Nayeon admitted in defeat, bringing her arms down as Sana lowered her weapon. 

It had been a really, really long day, and Nayeon could see that on Sana’s face. Though she knew that each of their heartbreaks was largely self-inflicted, she felt a little better in that moment to have Sana there as an ally. Someone who understood. So she gave her a small smile before moving over to her and wrapping her up in her arms. Sana just sighed into it, body going limp, laying her head against Nayeon’s chest. 

Nayeon had made up her mind to give Momo the distance she asked for, but that didn’t stop her from feeling a bit galvanized at Sana’s words. Hopeful. Even if she wasn’t the best person, she didn’t trust anyone else to love Momo the way that she did.

 

Momo thought about Nayeon every day. Almost every moment. She tried mightily not to, throwing herself into her dance practices, going to the gym, and finding a new part-time job now that the bakery would be closing. But, well. Nayeon had been a constant presence in her life for such a long time. Everything was touched by her. Everything was Nayeon. Nothing was just hers.

The weaker part of her hoped that Nayeon would still try and talk to her. But Nayeon kept her promise. And to that same weaker part of her, it proved she’d been right all along. That Nayeon had never really cared. She would forget about Momo soon and move on to someone new. 

So she continued on, chugging away mindlessly, losing track of how many days, weeks, passed. Barely registering Jeongyeon, especially since her roommate’s own coping strategy was moping and shutting herself in her room.

But one day, after a particularly grueling workout that had actually managed to make her feel less miserable for a few minutes after, she came home to find Jeongyeon out of her room, sitting on the couch. And she wasn’t alone. 

The most disappointing part about seeing her again was that it felt like it always had. Time moved a little slower as Nayeon turned to look at her. Momo’s heartbeat stopped altogether, and then accelerated past its normal rate when their eyes met. She felt herself start to smile in spite of herself at the way the corners of Nayeon’s lips twitched upward slightly, the way her cute front teeth peaked out from between her lips. 

“Hi,” Nayeon husked softly, voice like a warm cup of familiar, comforting tea to Momo’s ears. “I’m sorry, Momo. I know I’m supposed to be giving you space, but I needed to talk to Jeongyeon about something.”

“Oh.” Fuck. Momo felt like smacking herself for the way her heart fell knowing that Nayeon wasn’t here for her. “I guess I’ll be in my room if you need me, Jeongyeon.”

“Wait!” 

Momo stopped in her tracks at the urgency in Nayeon’s voice.

“Could you please stay? I think you’ll want to hear this anyway.”

And of course, Momo couldn’t say no. Not to her, probably not ever. So she nodded, slowly walking back and sitting on the couch, as far away from Nayeon as possible, with Jeongyeon in between them as a buffer.

“Nayeon just got here,” Jeongyeon explained. “So, what’s this thing that’s so important?”

Nayeon said nothing, simply picking up the TV remote from the coffee table and turning it on.

“What are you doing?” Jeongyeon couldn’t suppress an exasperated eye roll. “Can you please cut the theatrics and just tell me?”

“It’s not theatrics, dipshit,” Nayeon countered, trying to concentrate on finding the right channel. “It’s just easier to show you.”

“Show me wh--”

“Sana!” Momo gasped.

Jeongyeon’s head immediately whipped around to look at the screen. 

On the screen was Minatozaki Sana. The grey dress she wore looked as expensive as her usual garb, but was significantly more modest, matching her conservative, natural-looking makeup. She walked towards what looked like a government building while being swarmed by reporters.

Once she recovered from the shock of seeing her friend on the news, Momo’s eyes dropped to read the chyron at the bottom of the scream, drawing in a sharp breath as she did so.

MINATOZAKI HEIR SET TO TESTIFY IN RACKETEERING TRIAL

“So… Sana’s testifying against her dad,” Jeongyeon said hesitantly. “I mean, I guess that’s the right thing to do.”

“She’s testifying against her dad _for you_ ,” Nayeon clarified.

“What does it have to do with me?” Jeongyeon said, appearing genuinely baffled.

Momo had to stop herself from laughing at how irritated Nayeon looked, rolling her eyes at Jeongyeon.

“Jeongyeon, please do some critical thinking here. If Sana’s dad goes to prison, who do you think controls his company? And everything he owns?”

“... Sana?”

“Exactly. And that includes…?”

Jeongyeon’s eyes grew wide as she realized, “The bakery.”

“Finally, you get it.”

“So…” Momo could see the gears working in Jeongyeon’s head. “Sana’s going to testify in a huge, national trial, have to deal with press that bullied her for years, probably have to defend herself against a ton of people questioning her and her motives, and all of that with the end goal of sending her only close living relative to prison?”

“... Yes,” Nayeon answered after a beat. Momo could tell from the way Nayeon’s brow was furrowed that she probably hadn’t considered all of that.

“And you encouraged her to do that?”

“I… don’t know if I would say encouraged--”

“Nayeon, why didn’t you talk her out of this?!”

“I thought it was romantic! And her mind was made up, nothing I said would have made a difference!”

“It’s stupid! I would have gotten over the bakery thing! It’s not like I could work there forever anyway!”

“Well, go convince her not to testify then!” Nayeon said, embarrassedly shoving an envelope into Jeongyeon’s hand.

Jeongyeon looked at it, puzzled, opening it and examining the contents.

“This is… a plane ticket to Japan?”

“Yes!” Nayeon said, still trying to recover from her flustered state. “I got it for you thinking you would want to go confess your love for her. But I guess you can use it to try and stop her.”

“I-- you bought this for me?” Jeongyeon softened. Nayeon just nodded, arms crossed and looking a bit hurt. “That was… thoughtful.”

“Yeah, whatever. Go get packing, your flight’s in a few hours.”

Jeongyeon looked panickedly down at her ticket, sighing out a “ _shit_ ” as she rushed toward her bedroom.

It was quiet for a moment, still, as Momo and Nayeon realized they were alone together.

“That was kind of you,” Momo said softly.

Nayeon looked surprised that she’d spoken first.

“I want them to be happy,” she said, looking down at her fingers as she nervously played with the hem of her shirt. “I think they’re good together.”

Momo gave a soft, affirmative hmm. She felt her heart flutter as Nayeon turned towards her, lessening the distance between them slightly.

“So… Sana got to make a big, romantic gesture,” Nayeon said with a nervous chuckle. 

“Nayeon, please. Don’t--”

“Can’t we just talk? Please?”

And she looked so hurt, so sincere, so vulnerable. Momo had never seen her like this. She actually looked _younger_. So Momo nodded, finding it impossible to stop gazing at her.

“Momo, I want you to know that I’m not… going to ask for anything from you. I know that I fucked up, and if I were you, I wouldn’t want to be with me either. But I still need you to know how I feel. Umm… let me try and explain. Fuck, I knew what I was going to say but I’m so fucking nervous--”

Nayeon was using her hands even more animatedly than usual, and Momo could see a slight shake in them.

“I haven’t gone out with anyone in over a year. Every time I went on a date, I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible… so I could leave and spend time with you. So I just… stopped.”

Nayeon swallowed thickly, mumbling something about her mouth going dry before continuing.

“I finally understood why I felt like that when you went to Japan for the summer. And it was so stupid, but it hurt a lot, because I didn’t get to see you every day. I thought you must not feel the same way, because, you know, you… went.”

“I left to try and get over you,” Momo admitted, smiling resignedly. “It didn’t work.”

Nayeon gave her own hesitantly hopeful smile at that, moving even closer to Momo on the couch.

“What I’ve been trying to say is that I’m in love with you. And I have been for a long time.”

Momo sighed. It was inevitable, she thought.

“I love you too, Nayeon.”

Nayeon inched ever closer, so that the distance between them was negligible. 

“Do you think that… If I tried hard enough, maybe someday you could forgive me for being such a dumbass?”

“Maybe,” Momo nodded, and couldn’t help smiling.

Nayeon’s face loomed, coming within centimeters of hers. But Momo was surprised when instead of kissing her, Nayeon just burrowed into her neck, wrapping her arms around her.

“I wish I had a dad to testify against and a bakery to win back for you,” Nayeon mumbled into Momo’s chest. “That would be much more dramatic.” 

Both jumped a little when a harried Jeongyeon burst noisily from her room, a couple of stuffed bags hanging from her arms. She rushed toward the front door before stopping abruptly and turning to Nayeon, gruffly asking,

“Oh, you bought the ticket, right? What do I owe you?”

Nayeon shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been taking money out of Sana’s purse pretty regularly when she wasn’t paying attention. So it’s on her, I guess.”

 

An address for her hotel and the cover name Sana’s room was booked under was all Mina had been able to provide, so it was all Jeongyeon had to go on when she arrived in Osaka in the early evening. Her cab driver gave her a suspicious once-over when she told him her presumably swanky destination. 

The hotel, in the Umeda district near the bay, was indeed swanky, but not quite as ridiculous as Jeongyeon had expected. She thanked her driver as she exited the car, tipping generously. The hurried pace that she felt like she’d maintained since she left her apartment finally slowed a bit as she looked around, taking in the view of the hotel’s exterior and its pristine surroundings. She’d never been to Osaka, after all, and wasn’t sure if she’d ever get to come back. 

The lobby, Jeongyeon had to admit, was a bit more impressive. Gorgeous, actually, chandeliers sparkling and the whole of it bathed in warm, rich reds and golds, luxe in an old-fashioned way. She couldn’t help but kind of wander, gazing around her and taking slow steps.

“Ms.?”

A sharply-dressed man behind the front desk addressed her in English.

“Um…” she said. Fuck. How was she going to do this? She didn’t speak Japanese, didn’t know which floor Sana’s room was on, doubted she would be able to just ask for the cover name and be guided to--

“Jeongyeon?”

A small wave of relief at the familiar voice was quickly toppled by an even greater wave of-- nerves? Excitement? Jeongyeon wasn’t sure, but either way she felt a tightness in her chest and a lightness growing in her head.

“What are you doing here?”

For a moment, Jeongyeon could only manage to stare, thankfully maintaining enough self-control to stop her mouth from falling open. Sana looked stunning, wearing a well-tailored black dress and jewelry that was modest, tasteful, and clearly worth more than everything Jeongyeon owned combined. 

“I-- I came to… try and stop you from testifying.”

It sounded much stupider once she said it out loud, and Sana seemed to agree with a roll of her eyes. She rattled off some polite Japanese to the front desk man before linking arms with Jeongyeon and guiding her out of the hotel.

“You’re… dressed really fancy,” Jeongyeon managed to say, once out of the hotel and walking leisurely down the street.

“The hotel restaurant has a dress code,” Sana said, somewhat defensively,

“You were going to eat? Then why did we-- oh,” she followed Sana’s eyes, which were pointedly glancing down at the ripped jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers that she wore. 

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “You look really good.”

“So do you.”

They were silent for a few moments, Jeongyeon trying to find a way to say what she wanted to say without being overdramatic. But it was Sana who broke the silence.

“I can’t believe you came all the way here.”

Jeongyeon was thankful for the entry point provided to her.

“I don’t think you should do it. You’re putting yourself in danger, and the press are going to be all over you. Don’t get me wrong, it means a lot, but I don’t think you should do this for me when--”

“For _you_?” Sana stopped, turning towards her. “You think I’m doing this just for _you_?"

“Nayeon said that--”

“Nayeon,” Sana sighed. “Of course.”

Their lazy pace had brought them to a peer, and Sana walked over to lean against the railing. 

“Jeongyeon, what do you think would happen if I backed out now? Do you think they would be any kinder to me?”

“I… guess not.”

“They’ll find a way to turn it against me either way. I’m either the girl who protected her crook father, or the girl who’s trying to steal his fortune by sending him to prison.”

Sana reached up to smooth away the lines on Jeongyeon’s now-furrowed brow.

“I’m used to it,” she assured her, giving a dry, soft laugh. “In fact, it almost feels like my whole life’s been preparing me for this. And I’m not doing this for you. Even if… maybe you inspired me a bit.”

Sana gazed out over the bay, but Jeongyeon couldn’t stop looking right at her; the sharp line of her nose, the way the setting sun caught on the lighter parts of her hair. The liquidy brown of her eyes. 

“The last time I saw you, you said you love me,” she blurted out.

Sana flinched, but then softened as she looked back at her. 

“I do. You’re the only person I’ve ever been with who’s… kind.”

“Don’t you want to know if I love you back?” Jeongyeon asked, stepping closer to Sana.

“It wouldn’t change how I feel, but... do you?”

“Yes.” 

Sana looked down, gently taking her wrists and wrapping herself in Jeongyeon’s arms.

“Does this mean you forgive me?” Sana’s eyes shone a little brighter, aided by slowly forming tears.

“No,” Jeongyeon said honestly. “But I’ll get there, I think.”

Sana relaxed into Jeongyeon’s arms, laying her head against her chest. She kept it there for a minute, before pulling away just a bit. She studied Jeongyeon’s expression; her brow spoke concern, but a smile played at the corners of her lips. And her eyes, though a bit tired, were warm, comfortable, relieved, and they closed slowly as Sana kissed her. Soft but persistent; apologetic, but hopeful.

“I have to stay in Osaka for the next week,” she said. “For the first part of the trial. Would you stay with me? It would… mean a lot to me to have you here.”

“Yes,” Jeongyeon said, nodding. “I mean, I am unemployed.”

“Not for long. Once I’m finished with this, we have a bakery to reopen.”

Jeongyeon finally grinned openly at her, squeezing her tighter, kissing her cheek.  
“You should take me on vacation first.”


End file.
